Court Rulings

<bold>1. Employer and Employee — wrongful discharge</bold> <bold>— reporting misconduct to management — evidence</bold> <bold>sufficient</bold> <block_quote> The trial court erred by granting defendants' motion for directed verdict on a claim for the wrongful discharge of an at-will employee where the claim was based upon a retaliatory termination after plaintiff reported to management that the company was withholding negative account balance statements from customers, transferring the monies to a separate account, and continuing to invoice customers in violation of N.C.G.S. § <cross_reference>14-100</cross_reference> (obtaining property by false pretenses).</block_quote> <bold>2. Employer and Employee — tortious interference</bold><bold>with contract — termination — wrongful purpose</bold><bold>— evidence sufficient</bold> <block_quote> The trial court erred by granting defendants' motion for directed verdict on a claim for tortious interference with a contract by defendant Smith where plaintiff reported misconduct<page_number>Page 76</page_number> within the company to Smith and was later terminated. Plaintiff forecasted more than a scintilla of evidence that he was terminated for a wrongful purpose.</block_quote> <bold>3. Appeal and Error — preservation of issues</bold><bold>— argument not raised</bold> <block_quote> Plaintiff was deemed to have abandoned an argument on appeal that a corporation ratified the acts of a supervisor in a wrongful termination suit. Plaintiff did not raise the issue in his brief, cite authority, or point to evidence in the record.</block_quote> <bold>4. Unfair Trade Practices — employment dispute</bold><bold>— not an un-fair or deceptive trade practice</bold> <block_quote> The trial court did not err by granting defendants' motion for a directed verdict on plaintiffs claim for unfair and deceptive trade practices after an alleged retaliatory firing. The case involved a simple employment dispute and did not fall with

<bold>1. Appeal and Error — preservation of issues</bold> <bold>— failure to argue</bold> <block_quote> An assignment of error not argued in Defendants' brief was deemed abandoned.</block_quote> <bold>2. Workers' Compensation — causation — expert</bold> <bold>testimony — speculation — and</bold> <bold>conjecture</bold> <block_quote> The Industrial Commission erred in a workers' compensation case by finding that plaintiff's right knee injury was causally related to the compensable left knee injury where plaintiff's self-diagnosis was inadequate to establish medical causation and the expert medical testimony presented was insufficiently reliable to qualify as competent evidence on causation.</block_quote> <bold>3. Workers' Compensation — sufficiency of findings</bold> <bold>of fact — conflicting as a matter of law</bold> <block_quote> The Industrial Commission erred in a workers' compensation case by awarding plaintiff temporary total disability payments for a period of time and this issue is remanded to the Commission for further findings of fact. The Commission upon remand should determine the date plaintiff left the employ of defendant in North Carolina, where and when she worked in South Carolina, and the reason for her termination in South Carolina.</block_quote> <bold>4. Appeal and Error — preservation of issues —</bold> <bold>failure to argue</bold> <block_quote> Assignments of error that defendants failed to argue in their brief are deemed abandoned under N.C. R. App. P. 28(b)(6).</block_quote>