Promissory Fraud Claims in Virginia
A coal company makes a promise to a coal miner: “We will pay you $30 per ton of coal you deliver.” The coal miner then delivers the coal, but the coal company pays the miner only $15 per ton. The coal miner then sues the coal company. Does the miner have a claim for breach of contract? For fraud? Or for both? As with so many legal questions, the (maddening) answer is: it depends. Virginia law has strived to draw a distinction between contract and fraud claims, for perhaps obvious reasons. Take the facts above. The company’s failure to fulfill […]




