Opinion ID: 76164
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The State-law Fraud Claim

Text: 53 Byrd asserts Alabama courts have consistently held that employees can maintain actions against their former employers for fraud in connection with acceptance, termination, or conditions of employment. Byrd alleges that Dillard's committed fraud when it misrepresented to her the material fact that the AASM position was being permanently eliminated, intending to deceive her about the possibility of reinstating the AASM position. Byrd contends that her reliance was reasonable because she observed a decrease in business and found plausible the story about eliminating the position. Finally, Byrd contends that she was injured by the Company's misrepresentations because she resigned under the belief her position was being eliminated and was forced to work at a significantly lower rate of pay and suffered great emotional distress. 54 Dillard's responds that it did not commit fraud because it made no material misrepresentation to Byrd, as her position was eliminated because of budget constraints. Dillard's asserts that Byrd has not shown any evidence of an intent to deceive at the time Dillard's told her that her position was being eliminated. The Company notes that Byrd's reliance on its alleged misrepresentation was unreasonable because she jumped to the conclusion that she would not be successful in the cosmetics area, did not talk to anyone working in the cosmetics area, and did not attempt to work in that area before resigning. Dillard's further asserts that Byrd suffered no damages because she made more money with the combination of her severance and her Stein Mart pay than she would have received in her AASM position. In her reply, Byrd reiterates her fraud claim and adds that the store manager told her and another employee that Dillard's was permanently eliminating the AASM position. 55 Under Alabama law, the elements of fraudulent misrepresentation are: (1) a misrepresentation of material fact; (2) made willfully to deceive, recklessly, without knowledge, or mistakenly, (3) that was reasonably relied upon by the plaintiff under the circumstances, and (4) that caused damage as a proximate consequence. Brushwitz v. Ezell, 757 So.2d 423, 429 (Ala.2000); Ala.Code § 6-5-101 (1975). 56 Even construing the evidence in a light most favorable to Byrd, the district court correctly granted summary judgment on her fraud claim because she did not meet all of the required elements. Specifically, as the district court pointed out, Byrd did not present evidence that provided any genuine issue of material fact as to the fourth prong of the fraud claim, i.e., that damage was caused as a proximate consequence of the alleged misrepresentation. Byrd did not resign from Dillard's because she was told that the AASM position was being eliminated. She did not want to work in cosmetics because she did not think that she could sell enough products to equal her previous salary. The evidence does not support that she made any effort to investigate whether she actually could match her previous salary if she chose to sell cosmetics. Therefore, given the reasons for her resignation, her reduced income after she left Dillard's was not a proximate consequence of the Company's alleged misrepresentation. Accordingly, because Byrd cannot satisfy all the elements of a fraud claim, this Court should affirm the district court's dismissal of that claim.