Opinion ID: 1022749
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the defendant, owing a duty of care to the

Text: plaintiff, negligently asserts a false statement; (2) the defendant intends that his statement will be acted upon by the plaintiff; (3) the defendant has knowledge that the plaintiff will probably rely on the statement, which, if erroneous, will cause loss or injury; (4) the plaintiff, justifiably, takes action in reliance on the statement; and (5) the plaintiff suffers damage proximately caused by the defendant’s negligence. Griesi v. Atl. Gen. Hosp. Corp., 756 A.2d 548, 553 (Md. 2000). In evaluating whether a cause of action must be pled with particularity, a court should examine whether the claim requires an essential showing of fraud. See Vess v. Ciba-Geigy Corp. USA, 317 F.3d 1097, 1104-05 (9th Cir. 2003) (“Allegations of non-fraudulent 16 conduct need satisfy only the ordinary notice pleading standards of Rule 8(a).”); In re NationsSmart Corp. Sec. Litig., 130 F.3d 309, 315 (8th Cir. 1997) (“[A] pleading standard which requires a party to plead particular facts to support a cause of action that does not include fraud or mistake as an element comports neither with Supreme Court precedent nor with the liberal system of ‘notice pleading’ embodied in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.”). Importantly, a claim of negligent misrepresentation under Maryland law does not contain an essential showing of fraud and thus the heightened pleading requirements of Rule 9(b) do not apply. See Tricontinental Indus., Ltd. v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, 475 F.3d 824, 833 (7th Cir. 2007) (recognizing that heightened pleading standards of Rule 9(b) do not apply to negligent misrepresentation claim); Gen. Elec. Capital Corp. v. Posey, 415 F.3d 391, 395-96 (5th Cir. 2005) (concluding that negligent representation claim needs only to satisfy notice pleading standard of Rule 8(a)). Connecticut General next contends that, even if the negligent misrepresentation claim does not require an essential showing of fraud, Rule 9(b) standards should nevertheless apply because the County made allegations of both fraudulent and non-fraudulent conduct in its First Amended Complaint. We also reject this contention and conclude, as have our sister circuits, that in such circumstances only the fraud allegations of a complaint must satisfy the heightened pleading standards of Rule 9(b). See Vess, 17 317 F.3d at 1104-05; In re NationsSmart Corp., 130 F.3d at 315. As explained by the Ninth Circuit, [t]o require that non-fraud allegations be stated with particularity merely because they appear in a complaint alongside fraud averments, however, serves no similar reputation-preserving function, and would impose a burden on plaintiffs not contemplated by the notice pleading requirements of Rule 8(a). Vess, 317 F.3d at 1104. Thus, because the heightened pleading standards of Rule 9(b) do not apply to the County’s negligent misrepresentation claim against Johnson, the district court erred in determining that there was a fraudulent joinder of Johnson on this ground.