State Compensation Insurance Fund v. Superior Court

Petitioner State Compensation Insurance Fund (the Fund) sued real party in interest, Onvoi Business Solutions, Inc. (Onvoi), in superior court to collect unpaid premiums the Fund claimed were owed for workers’ compensation insurance policies issued to Onvoi. The Fund’s original complaint included a cause of action for fraud. Asserting that the three-year limitations period in Code of Civil Procedure section 338, subdivision (d) barred the fraud claim, Onvoi moved for summary adjudication of that cause of action. The Fund later filed a first amended complaint (FAC) that included expanded fraud allegations. The FAC alleged Onvoi was engaged in an ongoing conspiracy to defraud the Fund by concealing information that the Fund needed to calculate the correct premium. Onvoi did not file an amended motion in response to the FAC, and it did not renotice its original motion. In opposing Onvoi’s motion, the Fund argued it had been mooted by the FAC.

The superior court granted Onvoi’s motion, ruling that there was undisputed evidence that the Fund was on notice of the alleged fraud more than three years prior to the filing of this action. The Fund contends the superior court erred…