Plaintiff Says Contract Promises Were Fraud

A plaintiff who alleges defendant never intended to honor a written Independent Contractor agreement and to employ and pay him for projects listed in the Agreement, has stated a claim for fraud, says a Norfolk Circuit Court.

In the complaint filed March 12, 2015, plaintiff alleges defendant never intended to honor the promises made regarding the Independent Contractor Agreement contract, or to employ and pay him for the projects listed in Schedule A of the contract. Plaintiff alleges this was fraud by the defendant. Plaintiff alleges defendant made plaintiff promises regarding his commission on these projects, all while intending not to perform, as part of a scheme to remove plaintiff from the company without remuneration. Because these promises induced plaintiff to act to his detriment and sell his shares of Workplace Solutions Inc., and Associates in Facilities Products Inc., plaintiff alleges those promises were misrepresentation of present fact and actionable as actual fraud.

The complaint is materially different from the prior fraud in the complaint in CA 14-770, and as such, the court denies the plea in bar.

This case is distinguished from the facts of Colonial Ford Truck Sales Inc. v. Schneider, 228 Va. 671 (Va. 1985), in which plaintiff and defendant entered into an oral contract. Here, plaintiff and defendant entered into a written contract that included a termination agreement. At this stage on demurrer, however, the court must accept plaintiff’s allegations that defendant’s fraudulent intentions toward plaintiff existed from the beginning of the contract’s creation. Taking the alleged facts in the light most favorable to plaintiff, the non-moving party, the court must deny defendants’ demurrer.

Von Bernewitz v. Workplace Solutions Inc. (Doyle) No. CL 15-2823, April 28, 2015; Norfolk Cir.Ct.; Kellam T. Parks, C. Wiley Grandy for the parties. VLW 015-8-051, 2 pp.