Sacramento Family Files Fraud And Elder Abuse Case On Behalf Of Deceased Loved One, Part 9 of 9

It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this elder abuse case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, UC Davis Medical Center, Mercy, Methodist, or Sutter.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this wrongful death case and its proceedings.)

THE SIXTH CAUSE OF ACTION FOR FRAUD IS PROPERLY STATED AGAINST THE DEMURRING PARTIES EVEN THOUGH THE CAUSE OF ACTION DOES NOT ALLEGE THE PLAINTIFFS’ RELIANCE ON THEIR FALSE PROMISES AND REPRESENTATIONS

The controlling case is Randi W. v. Muroc Joint Unified School Dist. (1997) 34 Cal. 4 1066. There, the court decided the precise issue raised by the demurrer. Can a victim of the defendant’s fraud on a third person seek damages for that fraud? The answer proposed by the demurrer is “no”; whereas the answer in Randi W. is “yes.”

In Randi W., the victim had allegedly been fondled or abused by a school administrator. The Administrator had previously been employed at another school district, but when complaints mounted about his misbehavior at that school district he sought employment elsewhere. The second school district sought references from the first school district and the response was positive, to the effect that he worked well with students, etc. This representation was allegedly false, and relied on by the second school district which employed him; but the representation was not relied upon by Randi W., the victim. Nonetheless, Randi W. explained that the rule requiring the victim’s reliance on the misrepresentation was reserved for claims for economic loss, not for physical injury.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.


Randi went on to explain that under Restatement, 2d, Torts §311, it was unnecessary to plead reliance, so long as the recipient of the representations reasonably relied upon them. Randi W. at 1085. Thus, Randi W. could state a cause of action for fraudulent misrepresentation against the first school district: Randi sustained actual physical injury, she was in a class of persons (students) who would foreseeably be injured as a result of the misrepresentation, and the injuries she sustained were likewise foreseeable.
Turning to the Sixth Amended Complaint, reasonable reliance by third parties is alleged, as is the decedent’s membership in a foreseeable class of persons, sustaining a foreseeable injury. 3d AC,

For these reasons, the demurrer to the Sixth Cause of Action, which merely asserts that to state a cause of action for fraudulent misrepresentation the plaintiff must have relied on the representation, is entirely without merit.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, it is respectfully submitted that the demurrer to the 3AC by each of the defendants is without merit, save National’s demurrer only to the First Cause of Action for negligence.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

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