Ogier v. Pacific Oil & Gas etc. Corp

In Ogier v. Pacific Oil & Gas etc. Corp. (1955) 132 Cal.App.2d 496, the court held that the elderly plaintiff's delay in discovering the facts was reasonable given her confidential relationship with the defendant. (Id. at p. 507.) The defendant in Ogier defrauded the plaintiff by selling her interest in land that he told her falsely would potentially produce oil. "At the time of the transaction plaintiff was 75 years of age, had poor eyesight and a progressively declining physical condition, her faculties were impaired and she was easily influenced by defendant in whom she reposed great trust and confidence; that he deliberately sought her trust so that he could induce her to enter into the described transactions; that he always saw her alone; that she accepted his word for everything and that a confidential relationship existed between them . . . ." (Id. at p. 502.) The court held: "Plaintiff's allegations of the existence of the fiduciary relationship between her and defendant, her age and condition and the other circumstances of the case, were sufficient to account for her failure to discover the true facts, until the dates alleged. Her causes of action did not accrue until the discovery of such facts. . She alleged that because of some transaction she had with defendant in October or November, 1952 (a transaction not here involved) she began to suspect that she had been imposed upon. She thereupon employed an attorney to investigate for her and upon his reporting to her the results of his investigation she first learned the true facts." (Id. at p. 507.)