Taft v. American Univ. of the Caribbean School of Medicine CA2/6

Filed 9/22/15 Taft v. American Univ. of the Caribbean School of Medicine CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

FOSTER TAFT, 2d Civil No. B260943 (Super. Ct. No. 56-2014-00447716-CU- Plaintiff and Appellant, FR-VTA) (Ventura County) v.

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF THE CARIBBEAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, et al.,

Defendants and Respondents.

Foster Taft, proceeding in propria persona, appeals from the judgment of dismissal entered in favor of respondents American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine (American University) and Yife Tien. The judgment was entered after the trial court had sustained respondents' demurrer to appellant's third amended complaint (complaint) without leave to amend. The caption of the complaint shows two causes of action: fraud and wrongful dismissal from American University. But the allegations of the complaint show only a single cause of action for fraudulently misrepresenting why American University had dismissed appellant. The complaint alleges, "The dismissal was fraudulent therefore it

[was] wrong."1 In his opening brief appellant states, "Since the wrongful dismissal is based on the dismissal being fraudulent, [citation] the cause of action referred to must be the fraud." Appellant contends that the trial court erroneously concluded that the cause of action for fraud is time-barred. Appellant was dismissed from American University in March 1993, but the action was not filed until January 2014. Appellant argues that the action was timely filed because the discovery rule delayed accrual of the cause of action for fraud. We affirm. Complaint's Allegations and Facts Appearing In the 15 Exhibits Attached to the Complaint Appellant was enrolled as a student in American University, a medical school on a Caribbean island. He had completed his first two years of classroom study and "had begun medical clerkship training" at a hospital in the United States. On March 9, 1993, the hospital dismissed him from its clerkship program after he had been involved in an incident requiring the intervention of the hospital's security department. In a letter dated March 10, 1993, the hospital wrote that faculty "had serious questions about [appellant's] interpersonal skills with faculty, peers and ultimately patients." They also had "concerns about his academic suitability for remaining in [the hospital's] program." "[A]round the time of [his] dismissal," appellant saw the hospital's letter. After his dismissal from the clerkship program, respondent Yife Tien, a representative of American University, told appellant "that he had missed a meeting with the School's Dean." Tien also "referred to a situation where [appellant] reported another student for making threats. Yife Tien said that [appellant] had been warned in a letter that any kind of trouble could get [him] dismissed from [American University]."