A claim of fraud can be based on an employer’s misrepresentation(s) of fact and, under some circumstances, about future events.
A misrepresentation of fact can either be affirmative – such as by making a statement that the employer or its agents know to be false – or by concealing or failing to disclose important facts that the employee cannot verify on his/her own.
In addition, a misrepresentation can concern future events if the person making that representation does not intend to keep that promise at the time it is made. For example, a statement that the employer will continue to maintain its Colorado operations for the next two years would be false if the employer, at the time it made that statement, had decided to close those operations during those two years.
In addition, the misrepresentation must concern “material” facts; the employer must have intended to create a false impression; the employer must have intended for the plaintiff to rely on its misrepresentation; and the plaintiff must have justifiably relied on the misrepresentation to his/her detriment.