Refers to a party concealing what it knows or should know to be a material fact from another party, either to get that party to enter a contract, invest, purchase an asset or refrain from exercising a right. Typical elements that need to be shown to support a claim of fraudulent concealment are:
- The defendant knew of a material fact, i.e., information that would likely have led the plaintiff not to act, or to take specific were the plaintiff aware of it;
- The defendant concealed or suppressed information about that material fact;
- That this material fact was not something that the plaintiff could otherwise have found out through its own due diligence;
- That the defendant concealed or suppressed the fact with the intent of misleading the plaintiff (degrees of proof on this vary);
- The plaintiff was reasonably misled because it did not know of the fact;
- And the plaintiff’s damages flow from that concealment.