Opinion ID: 198846
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Future promises

Text: 154 Traditionally, an action for deceit could be brought under Maine law only if thechallenged misrepresentation was of past or existing fact, not just of opinion or of promises for future performance. See Wildes v. Pens Unlimited Co., 389 A.2d 837, 840 (Me. 1978). Even a preconceived intention not to perform was said to be incapable of turning a breach of a promise not to do something in the future into an action for deceit. Shine v. Dodge, 157 A. 318, 319 (Me. 1931). 155 In the Wildes case, however, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court pointed to a sentence in Shine, supra, as broadening the blanket rule. Allowing a finding of deceit to be based on a disingenuous promise of employment, the Wildes court quoted Shine: 156 The relationship of the parties or the opportunity afforded for investigation and the reliance, which one is thereby justified in placing on the statement of the other, may transform into an averment of fact that which under ordinary circumstances would be merely an expression of opinion. 157 389 A.2d at 840 (quoting Shine, 157 A. at 318). The court went on to state: 158 Plaintiff herein was clearly at the mercy of the defendant insofar as any representations made regarding such areas as, among others, employment opportunities and remuneration. We find that given the circumstances under which plaintiff was obliged to make his decisions, the representations made by Mr. Forde could well have been justifiably understood as being of fact and not mere opinion. 159 Id. at 840. 160 While involving an employment relationship, the holding in Wildes was not expressly limited to that setting. Nor was the employment relationship noted as determinative in the later case of Boivin v. Jones & Vining, Inc., 578 A.2d 187, 188-89 (Me. 1990). There, an assurance of continued employment was also upheld as a basis for a deceit action, notwithstanding the argument that the promise was unenforceable as being for future performance. See id. at 188. As in Wildes, the Boivin court relied on the above-quoted language from Shine. However, it took the additional step of quoting, without comment, from section 525 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, which sets forth a theory of liability that includes misrepresentations of opinion and intention as well as of fact: 161 One who fraudulently makes a misrepresentation of fact, opinion, intention or law for the purpose of inducing another to act or to refrain from action in reliance upon it, is subject to liability to the other in deceit for pecuniary loss caused to him by his justifiable reliance upon the misrepresentation. 162 Boivin, 578 A.2d at 189 (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts 525 (emphasis supplied)). We therefore conclude that in appropriate circumstances, promises concerning future performance may be sufficiently akin to averments of fact as to be actionable under Maine misrepresentation law. It is also possible, but unclear, that Maine will someday move to adopt section 525 in toto. 163 Looking first at defendants' alleged promise not to include PATT in the Dateline program, we believe this to be a misrepresentation made in circumstances that a Maine court today would find actionable. Defendants' statements concerning PATT can reasonably be considered specific facts about aspects of the program within defendants' exclusive control upon which Ray reasonably could have relied. See Schott Motorcycle Supply, Inc. v. American Honda Motor Company, Inc., 976 F.2d 58, 65 (1st Cir. 1992). Ray was not in position to know about, investigate or influence defendants' inclusion of PATT in the program; he was at the mercy of the defendant[s] with regard to their representations. Wildes, 389 A.2d at 840. Indeed, a jury could reasonably find on the present record that defendants deliberately concealed from Ray, at the time they told him that PATT would not be included, the fact that they had already filmed and recorded taped comments highly critical of truckers from PATT's co-founders, the Izer family, in preparation for use in the projected program. Parts of this footage were later included, to powerful effect, in the broadcast program. 18 The program therefore was already a work in progress when the misrepresentation was made. A promise not to include PATT and the concealment of the prior PATT filming can be regarded under the rationale of Wildes and Boivin as pertaining to existing facts rather than mere opinions or projections. Accordingly, we do not think the fact that defendants' alleged representation to exclude PATT also pertained to a time in the future (i.e. when the completed program would be aired) prevents it from being actionable as a misrepresentation of fact under recent Maine law. 164 The situation is, however, much less clear when we turn to the alleged assurance to present the trucking industry in a positive light. To be sure, that promise also pertained to matters within defendants' control as to which plaintiffs had little opportunity for investigation, but it did not pertain to a concrete, easily ascertainable fact (such as the fact of whether or not PATT was included in the program). Rather, it set forth a vague standard, positive, to which defendants' filmed portrayal of the trucking industry was supposed to adhere. In the next section, we conclude that such a vague future criterion, relative to a news broadcast about a matter of public concern, is insufficient under Maine law to support an action in misrepresentation.