HAMPSON , Judge . Factual and Procedural Background Equity Trust Company Custodian for Benefit of Gordon Frieze IRA Traditional Account Number 113190 and Roth Account Number 113192 (Equity Trust) and Gordon P. Frieze, Jr. (Frieze) (collectively, Plaintiffs) appeal from an Order granting summary judgment in favor of S&R Grandview, LLC (Defendant) and from Orders setting aside entry of default and default judgment against Defendant. This appeal arises out of a series of business...
BROOK , Judge . Rebecca and Greg Worsham ("Respondents") appeal the trial court's order allowing foreclosure of their home to proceed. In a prior appeal, we reversed the order of the trial court allowing foreclosure of Respondents' home to proceed, remanding the matter for further proceedings. See In re Worsham, ___ N.C. App. ___, 815 S.E.2d 746 , 2018 WL 3233086 (2018) (unpublished) (" Worsham I "). The present appeal originates from those proceedings. For the reasons that follow, we...
McGEE , Chief Judge . This appeal is companion to four additional appeals, COA18-766, COA18-767, COA18-768, and COA18-769 (all five together, the "bellwether cases"), consolidated for hearing by order of this Court entered 8 June 2018. The four companion appeals will be decided by opinions filed concurrently with this opinion. I. Procedural History Decedent Walter Dunbar Hinson ("Plaintiff Hinson") worked for Continental Tire the Americas ("Defendant") at Defendant's tire factory (...
COLLINS , Judge . Defendant appeals from entry of a Domestic Violence Protective Order. Defendant contends that the trial court erred by entering the Domestic Violence Protective Order because (1) text messages he sent to Plaintiff did not constitute harassment as the messages served a legitimate purpose; (2) there was no evidence that Plaintiff suffered from substantial emotional distress; and (3) the trial court's conclusion of law that Defendant committed acts of domestic violence was...
ZACHARY , Judge . Defendant Cornerstone Health Care, P.A. appeals from the trial court's order striking Defendant's answer as a sanction for discovery violations. We vacate and remand. Background Plaintiffs Thomas Raymond Walsh, M.D. and James Dasher, M.D. filed the instant action against Defendant, their former employer, on 20 November 2014 asserting claims for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, breach of contract, common law unfair competition, and quantum...
DILLON , Judge . This case presents a novel circumstance in which the prevailing party appealed from a small claims court decision in her favor in order to assert related counterclaims in the district court above. Maria Stevenson, Defendant and Counterclaim Plaintiff, appeals from the district court's order dismissing her appeal and its accompanying counterclaims, which were brought for the first time on appeal. Stevenson contends that her appeal rests in a gap between jurisdictional amount...
ARROWOOD , Judge . John A. Elmore, II ("Mr. Elmore"), Porters Neck Company, Inc. ("PNC"), and Forest Creek Ventures, Inc. ("FCV") (collectively, "defendants") appeal from an order denying their motion for summary judgment in part, and granting it in part. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm in part, and reverse in part. I. Background Mr. Elmore and Mr. Lionel L. Yow, Jr. ("Mr. Yow") formed PNC in or about 1991 to own and develop residential real property in Porters Neck. Thereafter,...
COLLINS , Judge . Plaintiff Donna Preston, decedent William M. Preston's widow and estate representative, appeals an order dismissing her wrongful death action alleging medical malpractice against Defendant Assadollah Movahed, M.D. 1 After a compliance hearing, the trial court concluded the facially valid Rule 9(j) pre-lawsuit medical expert review certification in Plaintiff's medical malpractice complaint was factually unsupported when it was filed, which was two days before the...
