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LAZAR v. SUPERIOR COURT
12 Cal.4th 631 (1996)
909 P.2d 981
49 Cal. Rptr.2d 377
ANDREW LAZAR, Petitioner,
v.
THE SUPERIOR COURT OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Respondent; RYKOFF-SEXTON, INC., Real Party in Interest.
Docket No. S044234.
Supreme Court of California.
January 29, 1996.
COUNSEL
Ross & Morrison, Gary B. Ross, Andrew D. Morrison, Schulman & Miller, Barry A. Schulman and Jerry Miller for Petitioner.
William G. Hoerger, Luis Jaramillo, Joseph Posner, Quackenbush & Quackenbush and William C. Quackenbush as Amici Curiae on behalf of Petitioner.
No appearance for Respondent.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Martin C. Washton and Jeffrey F. Webb for Real Party in Interest.
Musick, Peeler & Garrett, Richard J. Simmons, Michael G. Morgan, Morrison & Foerster, Kirby Wilcox and James E. Boddy, Jr., as Amici Curiae on behalf of Real Party in Interest.
OPINION WERDEGAR, J. We granted review in this matter to clarify, following our decisions in Foley v. Interactive Data Corp. (1988) 47 Cal.3d 654 [254 Cal.Rptr. 211,
765 P.2d 373] (Foley) and Hunter v. Up-Right, Inc. (1993) 6 Cal.4th 1174 [26 Cal.Rptr.2d 8, 864 P.2d 88] (Hunter), whether or under what circumstances a plaintiff may state a cause of action for fraudulent inducement of employment contract. The Court of Appeal concluded the allegations of the plaintiff in this case are adequate to state such a cause of action. For the reasons that follow, we agree. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal. I. Background(1) Because this matter comes to us after the trial court sustained the defendant's demurrer, "we must, under established principles, assume the truth of all properly pleaded material allegations of the complaint in evaluating the validity" of the decision below. (Tameny v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (1980) 27 Cal.3d 167, 170 [164 Cal.Rptr. 839, 610 P.2d 1330, 9 A.L.R.4th 314]; see also Alcorn v. Anbro Engineering, Inc. (1970) 2 Cal.3d 493, 496 [86 Cal.Rptr. 88, 468 P.2d 216].) Andrew Lazar alleged as follows: Lazar was born in New York in 1950. He lived and worked in Long Island, New York until 1990. From 1972 to 1990, he was employed with a family-owned restaurant equipment company. As of 1990, he was president of the company, earning $120,000 annually and living in New York with his wife of 21 years and his 2 children, ages 17 and 15.
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