Do Unfulfilled Promises Made by Employer to Employee Amount to Fraud

In Ely v. Stratoflex, 132 Ga. App. 569, 571-572 (208 S.E.2d 583) (1974), the employee claimed fraud because the employer made several promises to him which the employer knew, at the time they were made, would not be fulfilled. Id. at 571. Ely and its progeny have consistently held that this type of fraud claim in an employer-employee relationship must fail. See: Wheeling, supra at 211 (summary judgment granted to employer on fraud claim even if employee could show that employer knowingly misrepresented to employee that he was guaranteed employment for three years); Alston v. Brown Transport Corp., 182 Ga. App. 632 (356 S.E.2d 517) (1987) (summary judgment granted to employer on fraud claim even if employer did not intend to honor assurances that dockworkers would be promoted after 90 days); Jacobs v. Georgia-Pacific Corp., 172 Ga. App. 319 (323 S.E.2d 238) (1984) (employer's oral promise that employment would be permanent did not afford the employee a remedy in fraud because the underlying employment contract was terminable at will).