Opinion ID: 745282
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Civil Conspiracy Cause of Action

Text: 97 ERG's final cause of action alleges that Genesis and Aerostar are liable to ERG as co-conspirators under a civil conspiracy theory. The district court granted summary judgment against ERG on this claim on the ground that in the instant circumstances, ERG could not state such a cause of action under California law. 98 Under California law, there is no separate and distinct tort cause of action for civil conspiracy. See, e.g., Applied Equipment Corp. v. Litton Saudi Arabia Ltd., 7 Cal.4th 503, 28 Cal.Rptr.2d 475, 480, 869 P.2d 454, 459 (1994) (stating that, Conspiracy is not an independent tort; it cannot create a duty or abrogate an immunity. It allows tort recovery only against a party who already owes the duty and is not immune from liability based on applicable substantive tort law principles.) (citing Doctors' Co. v. Superior Court, 49 Cal.3d 39, 260 Cal.Rptr. 183, 775 P.2d 508 (1989)); see also 5 B. Witkin, Summary of California Law, Torts § 44 (9th ed.1988) (stating that, Strictly speaking, however, there is no separate tort of civil conspiracy, and there is no civil action for conspiracy to commit a recognized tort unless the wrongful act itself is committed and damage results therefrom.). 99 Accordingly, regardless of whether Genesis and Aerostar formed such a conspiracy, in order for ERG to have a valid civil conspiracy cause of action, there must be another tort upon which ERG could base its conspiracy claim. Id. Although ERG attempts to argue that it is enough for ERG to simply have alleged underlying causes of action in its complaint, merely alleging underlying tort causes of action is clearly insufficient to support a conspiracy cause of action. See Applied Equipment, 28 Cal.Rptr.2d at 478, 869 P.2d at 457. Thus, because we have decided to affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment as to all of the other tort causes of action, summary judgment is also appropriate for ERG's civil conspiracy claim since no underlying tort exists.