## Facts

- Charles Krueger played professional football for the San Francisco Forty Niners from 1958 to 1973 and suffered repeated left-knee injuries.
- Krueger previously had left-knee surgery in college (1955) to repair a torn meniscus.
- In October 1963, team physician Dr. Lloyd Taylor surgically repaired Krueger’s ruptured medial collateral ligament; Krueger was told the repair was successful and returned to play with rehabilitation and a brace.
- Dr. Taylor’s operative report recorded that Krueger’s anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) “appeared to be absent,” a condition associated with knee instability; Krueger testified he was never told this.
- In subsequent seasons, team physicians treated recurring pain and swelling with repeated aspiration of bloody fluid and frequent injections of novocaine and cortisone.
- Krueger alleged he was not informed of degenerative changes shown on imaging or of known risks associated with repeated steroid injections, including structural weakening of joint tissues.
- Krueger continued playing despite symptoms and episodes suggesting worsening injury; he testified he would have stopped playing had he been warned of the risk of permanent damage.
- After retirement, Krueger learned he had severe, irreversible degenerative left-knee disease causing significant pain and functional limitation.
- Krueger sued in 1980; after demurrers and amendments, the case proceeded to a bench trial on one claim: fraudulent concealment of medical information. The trial court entered judgment for the team.

## Issues

1. Whether the team could be liable for fraudulent concealment based on nondisclosure of material medical facts and risks concerning Krueger’s knee condition and treatment.
2. Whether the relationship between team physicians, the team, and the player created a duty of full disclosure of known conditions and treatment risks.
3. Whether later-acquiring owners could be held liable for fraudulent concealment occurring during Krueger’s playing years.
4. Whether delayed discovery supported timeliness where Krueger learned the nature, extent, and causal connection of the harm only after retirement.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeal reversed the judgment for the Forty Niners and remanded for further proceedings, including determination of damages.
- The court held the evidence established fraudulent concealment based on a conscious failure to disclose material medical information and risks to Krueger.
- The court found a duty of meaningful disclosure arising from the physician–patient relationship and the team’s superior access to and control over medical information affecting the employee-player.
- The court rejected the contention that subsequent owners were insulated from liability due to later acquisition of ownership interests.
- The court accepted delayed discovery on the record presented, allowing the claim to proceed despite the passage of time since the underlying treatment and play-related injury progression.

## Legal Principles

- Fraudulent concealment may be established when a party with a duty to disclose fails to disclose material facts, the other party justifiably relies on the nondisclosure, and the nondisclosure causes harm.
- A duty to disclose arises where there is a relationship of trust and confidence (including treating physician–patient), or where the defendant has superior knowledge of material facts not reasonably available to the plaintiff.
- Scienter for fraudulent concealment may be satisfied by a conscious failure to provide meaningful disclosure of known risks or conditions, even without an affirmative misrepresentation.
- In assessing causation and reliance, testimony that the plaintiff would have acted differently if informed can support a finding that nondisclosure induced the conduct leading to worsened injury.
- Changes in ownership structure do not, by themselves, eliminate liability for tortious conduct attributable to the franchise or its agents.

## Conclusion

The Court of Appeal held that the team’s physicians and management had a duty to disclose material facts and risks concerning Krueger’s knee condition and treatment and that their conscious nondisclosure constituted fraudulent concealment that could support damages, requiring reversal of the defense judgment and remand for further proceedings.


Krueger v. S.F. Forty Niners, 189 Cal. App. 3d 823, 234 Cal. Rptr. 579 (Cal. Ct. App. 1987)