Opinion ID: 202112
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Fraudulent Concealment & Misrepresentation

Text: 78 Dammers also contends that her claim is tolled because the government fraudulently denied any wrongdoing and otherwise deliberately failed to disclose certain facts known to it that would have enabled her to bring her claim. The rule governing fraudulent concealment is that [t]he defendant raising the limitations defense must have engaged in fraud or deliberate concealment of material facts relating to his wrongdoing and the plaintiff must have failed to discover these facts within the normal limitations period despite his exercise of due diligence. Torres Ramirez v. Bermudez Garcia, 898 F.2d 224, 229 (1st Cir.1990). The district court found that the claim was not tolled under this rule because plaintiffs had not acted with diligence in investigating their claims. The court rested its decision on the same grounds on which it had rested its discovery rule holding: that, because Rakes and Dammers should have known of sufficient facts underlying their theories of liability prior to May 11, 1999 under the objective accrual test of McIntyre, it follows that Rakes and Dammers fail to meet the second prong of the fraudulent concealment test because they were not acting with due diligence. Rakes, 352 F.Supp.2d at 81. 79 The district court was correct. This reasoning means, we acknowledge, that a plaintiff whose argument for delayed accrual under the discovery rule has failed because she has not diligently investigated her claim will never be able to successfully argue that the statute of limitations has been tolled under a fraudulent concealment theory. This is because both doctrines require a plaintiff to exercise diligence in investigating a claim or risk losing it. See Callahan, 426 F.3d at 455. Of course, if even diligent investigation would have revealed nothing useful, the time for filing may be extended. Where, on the other hand, a plaintiff could have turned up needed information through investigation, but has failed to exercise the requisite diligence, she will not be able to avail herself of either doctrine, and will lose her claim. Such was the case here, and as a result, the statute of limitations was not tolled.