Joseph J. Gajda and Lillian A. Gajda v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge:

Joseph Gajda, who files tax returns jointly with his wife Lillian Gajda, appeals the Tax Court’s summary judgment on Joseph’s claim that $91,690 of income received upon his resignation from employment constituted payment on account of sickness or personal injury excludable under section 104(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code. Because the pleadings demonstrate that the employer offered the payment in lieu of damages and not to settle a claim for personal injury, we affirm.

A

Gajda was an engineer employed with International Business Machines Corp. (“IBM”) for…