A 96-year-old woman has tentatively settled her lawsuit alleging she was coerced into making a $25 million donation to music education at Cal State Long Beach by a former 49er Foundation executive and others associated with the university.
Regena Cole’s Long Beach Superior Court lawsuit against the Board of Trustees of California State University and the CSULB 49er Foundation alleged financial elder abuse, fraud, negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment. She sought at least $500,000 in damages and a court order declaring the agreement void.
On June 12, attorneys in the case filed joint court papers with Judge Michael P. Vicencia notifying him of the “conditional'' accord and asking for his approval during a hearing scheduled July 29. No terms were divulged.
In her suit, Ms. Cole said that those individuals involved in allegedly deceiving her “used their relationship with her, her weakened physical and mental health and her dependence and trust in others, to intimidate Ms. Cole so that they could exert control and dominion over her and her property to gain an alleged irrevocable cash contribution of $25 million to CSULB for the benefit of music education.
Ms. Cole also contended that the agreement required her to make the donation or have the sum considered a debt to her estate after she dies.
“Further, the alleged gift agreement was drafted and put forward solely by defendants for their direct benefit by isolating Ms. Cole from her family and friends, including longtime trusted financial advisors and attorneys,'' the suit states.
Over the past decade, Ms. Cole has gradually suffered from memory lapses and moments of confusion, especially after late morning, which cause her to be susceptible to manipulation and isolation, the suit states.
The CSULB 49er Foundation is a nonprofit group that manages endowment funds, donations and estate planning gifts to CSULB. In 2020, Michele Cesca, who at the time served as an agent of the 49er Foundation and as vice president of university relations and development for CSULB, used her perceived friendship to gain access and control over Ms. Cole, the suit states.
Over time, Ms. Cesca and others allegedly coerced Ms. Cole into signing the gift agreement.
Ms. Cesca did not show the alleged donation to Ms. Cole’s attorneys until months after the signing, the suit states. Because the signatures of three university representatives appear after the date of Ms. Cole’s alleged penning of her name on Aug. 19, 2020—including that of CSULB President Jane Close Conoley—there is no indication that any of the alleged signings by representatives from CSULB and the 49er Foundation were executed on the same day, the suit states.
There also is no indication that the donation was properly witnessed, notarized and disclosed in full to Ms. Cole, according to her suit.
In November 2020, Ms. Cesca contacted Ms. Cole’s attorneys in an email that “completely misrepresented key facts in this matter,'' the suit states. In addition, a confidential attorney-client communication produced by university attorneys purporting to document the donation was in fact only a draft outline of a preliminary discussion between the plaintiff and her lawyer regarding a matching gift agreement and does not state she agreed to an irrevocable cash contribution, the suit states.
Not until late 2022 were Ms. Cole’s attorneys able to “uncover the paper trail of fraud committed by Defendants and their actions to improperly cause the acts of elder abuse, fraud, negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment against Ms. Cole through deception, manipulation, undue coercion, fraud and concealment,'' the suit states.
In a countersuit brought in June 2023, defense attorneys maintained Ms. Cole breached the 2020 agreement and demanded payment of just under $25 million.
