Spratley

The superior court sustained without leave to amend defendant Winchell Donut House, Inc.’s demurrer to plaintiff Andrea Spratley’s first amended complaint for fraud and bad faith. The court entered judgment dismissing the lawsuit. Spratley appeals. We affirm the judgment of dismissal.

I

Spratley’s first amended complaint’s purported cause of action for fraud alleged: Spratley told Winchell she did not wish to accept employment with Winchell because she feared working alone at night as a baker at Winchell’s shop where a burglary had recently occurred. To induce Spratley to enter into an employment contract with Winchell, Winchell’s agent falsely and fraudulently told Spratley all locks at the shop had been changed after the burglary, only current employees of the shop had keys to the shop and Winchell would arrange for sheriff’s deputies to provide continuous security for Spratley while she worked alone at night. About a month later while working alone at Winchell’s shop in the early morning hours, Spratley was physically attacked by a person who was not a Winchell employee and who used a key to enter through a locked door. The intruder broke Spratley’s skull and jaw and…

Although I agree Spratley’s purported cause of action for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, as pleaded, is barred by the exclusivity provisions of Labor Code 1 section 3602,1 find the majority’s analysis of her claim for fraudulent inducement to contract both factually and legally skewed. I would reverse the judgment of dismissal as to the fraud cause of action and remand for further proceedings.

Contrary to the majority’s assertion, the pivotal issue is not when the injury occurred, but whether the wrongful conduct from which the injury flowed occurred in the workplace and is of the type that is normally expected *1418 to occur there. (Cole v. Fair Oaks Fire Protection Dist. (1987) 43 Cal.3d 148 [ 233 Cal.Rptr. 308 , 729 P.2d 743 ].)

In Cole , the Supreme Court distinguishes between those cases in which the employer was charged with intentionally failing to warn of dangers inherent in the employment or to provide a safe workplace, and those where the employer’s intentional conduct was specifically designed to injure or defraud an employee. (Id. at pp. 158-159, quoting Johns-Manville Products Corp. v. Superior Court (1980) 27 Cal.3d 465, 474-475 [ 165…

The superior court sustained without leave to amend defendant Winchell Donut House, Inc.'s demurrer to plaintiff Andrea Spratley's first amended complaint for fraud and bad faith. The court entered judgment dismissing the lawsuit. Spratley appeals. We affirm the judgment of dismissal.

Spratley's first amended complaint's purported cause of action for fraud alleged: Spratley told Winchell she did not wish to accept employment with Winchell because she feared working alone at night as a baker at Winchell's shop where a burglary had recently occurred. To induce Spratley to enter into an employment contract with Winchell, Winchell's agent falsely and fraudulently told Spratley all locks at the shop had been changed after the burglary, only current employees of the shop had keys to the shop and Winchell would arrange for sheriff's deputies to provide continuous security for Spratley while she worked alone at night. About a month later while working alone at Winchell's shop in the early morning hours, Spratley was physically attacked by a person who was not a Winchell employee and who used a key to enter through a locked door. The intruder broke Spratley's skull…