Opinion ID: 625528
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Fraud theory

Text: In the law of trust, a court may reform a trust to the extent that it was procured by wrongful conduct, such as undue influence, duress, or fraud. RESTATEMENT (THIRD) OF TRUSTS §§ 12, 62 cmt. a (2003); RESTATEMENT (THIRD) OF PROP. (WILLS & OTHER DONATIVE TRANSFERS) § 8.3 (2003). A trust is procured by wrongful conduct if that conduct caused the settlor to act in a way that he or she would not have otherwise acted. RESTATEMENT (THIRD) OF PROP. (WILLS & OTHER DONATIVE TRANSFERS) § 8.3 (2003). In the law of contract, a court may reform a contract when (1) one party seeks reformation, (2) that party's assent was induced by the other party's misrepresentations as to the terms or effect of the contract, and (3) the party seeking reformation was justified in relying on the other party's misrepresentations. RESTATEMENT (SECOND) CONTRACTS § 166 (1981). Appellants have presented no evidence that Northrop Plan B contains terms that were induced by fraud, duress, or undue influence. The inconsistency between the 2003 SPD and the plan master document is not evidence of fraudulent inducement. The SPD summarizes the plan, so it appears to have been created after the plan, and Appellants have provided no evidence to allow us to infer otherwise. Appellants argue that we should adopt the reasoning in Amara 's dictum discussing reformation, but we decline to do so because the facts in Amara are materially distinguishable. In Amara, the Court suggested that reformation might be appropriate on remand because the district court had already found that the employer had intentionally misled its employees. 131 S.Ct. at 1874. In this case, by contrast, Appellants have provided no evidence that Northrop Grumman materially misled its employees and, even if it had misled its employees, Appellants have conceded that they did not rely on any of the misleading information.