EDMUNDS, Justice. In this case, we consider the nature of the working relationship between Peter Edward Yount (defendant), the principal of William Lenoir Middle School, and Joan F. Trivette (plaintiff), who was a part-time secretary and office assistant at the school. Plaintiff claimed that she was injured on the job as a result of defendant's negligence. Although we find that plaintiff and defendant were co-employees, allowing plaintiff to sue defendant personally under the exception to the...
PER CURIAM. DISCRETIONARY REVIEW IMPROVIDENTLY ALLOWED.
HUDSON, Justice. [N]o sooner is a lottery defined, and the definition applied to a given state of facts, than ingenuity is at work to evolve some scheme of evasion which is within the mischief, but not quite within the letter of the definition. But, in this way, it is not possible to escape the law's condemnation, for it will strip the transaction of all its thin and false apparel and consider it in its very nakedness. It will look to the substance and not to the form of it, in order to...
JACKSON, Justice. In this appeal we consider whether defendant Cabarrus County ("the County") had the authority pursuant to its general zoning powers or, in the alternative, a 2004 law enacted by the General Assembly, to adopt an adequate public facilities ordinance ("APFO") that effectively conditions approval of new residential construction projects on developers paying a fee to subsidize new school construction to prevent overcrowding in the County's public schools. Because we hold that the...
PER CURIAM. For the reasons stated in Lanvale Properties, LLC v. County of Cabarrus, ___ N.C. ___, ___ S.E.2d ___ (2012), the decision of the Court of Appeals is affirmed. AFFIRMED.
PER CURIAM. For the reasons stated in Lanvale Properties, LLC v. County of Cabarrus, ___ N.C. ___, ___ S.E.2d ___ (2012), the decision of the Court of Appeals is affirmed. AFFIRMED.
TIMMONS-GOODSON, Justice. In this case we consider whether the trial court erred in denying a motion for summary judgment based upon governmental immunity. We take this opportunity to restate our jurisprudence of governmental immunity and, in light of our restatement, we vacate and remand the decision of the Court of Appeals for further remand to the trial court for proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. In reaching our conclusion, we express no opinion whether defendants in this case,...
JACKSON, Justice. In this action plaintiff Juma Mussa seeks to annul his twelve-year marriage to defendant Nikki Palmer-Mussa on grounds that their marriage was bigamous. After conducting a bench trial, the district court made findings of fact, which are uncontested on appeal. Based on these findings, the district court concluded that plaintiff failed to present sufficient evidence to support his claim. As a result, the district court dismissed the case. Because the district court's...
PER CURIAM. For the reasons stated in the dissenting opinion, the decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed as to the appealable issue of right, that is, whether the Industrial Commission properly found and concluded that Argonaut was the carrier on the risk for plaintiff's asbestosis. The remaining issues addressed by the Court of Appeals are not properly before this Court and the Court of Appeals' decision as to these matters remains undisturbed. This case is remanded to the Court of...
MARTIN, Justice. This suit arises from plaintiff's visit to the dentist for a routine tooth extraction, which plaintiff alleges resulted in a broken jaw. The trial court granted defendants' motions for summary judgment "because Plaintiff failed to comply with Rule 9(j) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure in that no reasonable person would have expected Dr. Joseph Dunn to qualify as an expert witness under Rule 702 of the North Carolina Rules of Evidence." The sole question presented...
NEWBY, Justice. In this action to collect payment for the provision of medical services we must ascertain whether the trial court properly entered summary judgment for plaintiff. To do so, we must first determine whether a medical services provider forecasts sufficient evidence of its right to payment when it submits only affidavits from its employees that state the amount of its bill and assert the amount is reasonable. Second, we must decide whether a patient's affidavit that illustrates the...
NEWBY, Justice. In this case we must determine whether the public duty doctrine bars plaintiffs' claims against defendant North Carolina Department of Transportation ("DOT") under the State Tort Claims Act ("STCA"). To answer this question we must consider the impact of the limitation placed on the use of the public duty doctrine by the General Assembly's 2008 amendment to the STCA. See N.C.G.S. 143-299.1A (2011). Because we hold that N.C.G.S. 143-299.1A clarified the legislature's...
NEWBY, Justice. This case presents the question whether the product alteration or modification defense provided to manufacturers and sellers in products liability actions by section 99B-3 of our General Statutes applies only if the one who altered or modified the product is a party to the litigation at the time of trial. 1 By its plain language, section 99B-3 protects manufacturers and sellers from liability for injury proximately caused by a modification or alteration made by anyone else to...
TIMMONS-GOODSON, Justice. The parental rights of respondent-mother to her three children were terminated after a trial in which she waived her right to counsel. The Court of Appeals concluded that the trial court abused its discretion by allowing respondent to waive counsel because the trial court failed to conduct an adequate inquiry under N.C.G.S. 15A-1242. We hold that N.C.G.S. 15A-1242 has no application in termination of parental rights ("TPR") proceedings. Accordingly, we reverse and...
HUDSON, Justice. Here we address whether summary judgment was appropriately entered on claims of conversion and constructive trust when a third party came into possession of funds, ownership of which was disputed between the primary contracting parties. We hold that the record forecasts genuine issues of material fact with respect to both claims, and we therefore reverse and remand for further proceedings. Background Variety Wholesalers ("Variety") is a large retail corporation with...
HUDSON, Justice. Plaintiff Anthony Willis, on behalf of the estate of Janice Willis, seeks reformation of a deed based on unilateral mistake of the grantor in the absence of fraud. Because this remedy is unavailable as a matter of law, we modify and affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals. Janice Willis had two sons, Eddie and Anthony. In December 2004 she drafted a will bequeathing "any interest that I may own in my home place" to Eddie. The will also expressed Mrs. Willis's "wish" that,...
JACKSON, J. As a result of conduct inappropriate to her judicial office, on 23 September 2011, the Judicial Standards Commission (Commission) entered a recommendation that this Court suspend respondent, Denise S. Hartsfield, a Judge of the General Court of Justice, District Court Division, Judicial District Twenty-One, without compensation from the performance of her judicial duties for a suitable period of time. For the reasons that follow, this Court concludes respondent should be suspended...
