Cengage Advantage Books: Law for Business 19th Edition by John Ashcroft,Katherine Ashcroft,Martha Patterson

Exercise 17

Youcheng Wu, a married man, entered into a relationship with Jian Xu, a single woman. Xu claimed that Wu promised to divorce his wife and marry her. Wu denied this, but did sign a letter drafted by Xu's attorney in which he apologized for hurting her and promised to pay $500,000 if Xu would refrain from disclosing the relationship to Wu's wife. After paying approximately $47,000, Wu stopped making payments. Xu threatened to sue for the remaining amount. Wu responded by filing suit for a declaratory judgment that the letter was an unenforceable contract and against public policy. How should the court rule in this case?