Practice point: An at-will employee who has been terminated cannot state a
fraudulent inducement claim on the basis of having relied upon the
employer's promise not to terminate the contract, or upon any representations of future intentions as to the duration or security of his employment. However, where the employee alleges an injury that is separate and distinct from the termination of employment, there may be a cause of action sounding in fraudulent inducement. For the claim to be viable, the employee must allege not
that his employer wrongly fired him, but that that he would not have taken
the job in the first place if the true facts had been revealed to him.
Student note: In any action to recover damages for fraud, a plaintiff must prove a
misrepresentation or a material omission of fact which was false and
known to be false by defendant, made for the purpose of inducing the
other party to rely upon it, justifiable reliance of the other party on
the misrepresentation or material omission, and injury.
Case: Laduzinski v. Alvarez & Marsal Taxand LLC, NY Slip Op 06646 (1st Dept. 2015)
Here is the decision.
Tomorrow's issue: Dismissal of a claim based on comity.
