Lawsuit for Wrongful Conduct In Denying Disability Retirement Pension

In Masters v. San Bernardino County Employees Retirement Assn. (1995) 32 Cal. App. 4th 30 37 Cal. Rptr. 2d 860, a county employee sued the county employees retirement association and others for alleged wrongful conduct in initially denying and failing to promptly award her a disability retirement pension. In causes of action for promissory fraud and negligent misrepresentation, the employee alleged that public employees had told her that her application would be ruled upon fairly and within three to five months, and that in reliance on these representations, she did not secure disability income insurance. The court applied the immunity of section 818.8 and held that the county was wholly immune as to the causes of action for fraud and negligent misrepresentation. (Masters, supra, 32 Cal. App. 4th at p. 43.) Similarly, in Harshbarger v. City of Colton (1988) 197 Cal. App. 3d 1335 243 Cal. Rptr. 463, homeowners who had to reconstruct their home to bring it up to city code standards sued the city, alleging that city building inspectors, who had periodically inspected the home, had intentionally misrepresented and suppressed the fact that the home did not meet code standards. The court determined that the alleged interference with the homeowners' financial interests fell within the immunity provisions of Government Code section 818.8. (197 Cal. App. 3d at p. 1342.)