Christmas v. Cabarrus County, No. COA07-1301.
| Docket Nº | No. COA07-1301. |
| Citation | 664 S.E.2d 649 |
| Case Date | August 19, 2008 |
| Court | Court of Appeal of North Carolina (US) |
v.
CABARRUS COUNTY; Cabarrus County Department of Social Services; James F. Cook, Jr., individually and in his official capacity as Director of the Cabarrus County Department of Social Services; Connie Polk, individually and in her official capacity as Supervisor/Program Administrator of Cabarrus County Department of Social Services; Hope Moose, individually and in her official capacity as Supervisor of Cabarrus County Department of Social Services; Angela Beamer Ratliff, individually and in her official capacity as Supervisor of Cabarrus County Department of Social Services; Jane Doe and John Doe, individually and in their official capacities as Supervisors/Program Administrators of the Cabarrus County Department of Social Services; Crystalle Williams, individually and in her official capacity as Social Worker for the Cabarrus County Department of Social Services; Tonya Hart, individually and in her official capacity as Social Worker for the Cabarrus County Department of Social Services; Robin Fox, individually and in her official capacity as Social Worker for the Cabarrus County Department of Social Services; Christy Belk, individually and in her official capacity as Social Worker for the Cabarrus County Department of Social Services; Caroline Leavelle, individually and in her official capacity as Social Worker for the Cabarrus County Department of Social Services; Donna Doe and David Doe, individually and in their official capacities as Social Workers for the Cabarrus County Department of Social Services, Defendants.
[664 S.E.2d 650]
Appeal by defendant from orders filed 23 July 2007 and 7 August 2007 by Judges Susan C. Taylor and Clarence E. Horton, Jr., in Cabarrus County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 20 March 2008.
Law Office of G. Lee Martin, P.A., by G. Lee Martin; and Law Offices of Mary Beth Smith, by Mary Beth Smith, Salisbury, for plaintiff appellee.
Templeton & Raynor, P.A., by Kenneth R. Raynor, for Cabarrus County, Cabarrus County Department of Social Services, James F. Cook, Jr., Connie Polk, Hope Moose, Angela Beamer Ratliff, Christy Belk, Robin Fox, Crystalle Williams, and Tonya Hart, Charlotte, defendant appellants.
Teague, Campbell, Dennis & Gorham, by Courtney C. Britt, Raleigh, for Caroline Leavelle defendant appellant.
McCULLOUGH, Judge.
On 29 March 2003, Tanya Yevette Johnson ("Johnson") gave birth to Alexandr Raymond Johnson-Christmas ("decedent"), son of Keith Christmas ("plaintiff"). Between 16
November 2004 and 24 December 2004, the Cabarrus County Department of Social Services ("DSS") received reports that decedent had various injuries, which included: knots and bruises on his body, head, and face; cuts on his lip and eye; and injuries to his hands and right buttock. On 16 November 2004 and 6 December 2004 DSS investigated and determined that decedent's household was conditionally safe. A physician at Northeast Medical Center notified DSS, on 24 December 2004, that decedent had possibly suffered a non-accidental trauma. Without an assessment of Johnson, the on-call social worker for DSS determined that decedent could be released back into her care and DSS would assess the case on 27 December 2004.
At the time of these events Johnson was living with her boyfriend Trevor Brown ("Brown"). On 31 December 2004, a social worker visited the home in response to the physician's 24 December 2004 report to DSS; however, no one answered the door. A note was left requesting Johnson to contact DSS. On 2 January 2005, Cabarrus County Emergency Medical Services ("EMS") was called to the home. Johnson informed EMS that decedent had been left at home with Brown for the day and when she returned decedent was vomiting and thirsty, but would not eat. Ultimately, around 4:00 a.m. decedent fell asleep. When Johnson awoke around 8:00 a.m., he was unresponsive. At 8:20 a.m., EMS pronounced decedent dead. An autopsy revealed multiple bodily injuries, and the cause of death was blunt trauma abdominal and head injuries. After an investigation was conducted, Brown was charged and convicted of felony child abuse with serious bodily injury and second-degree murder. Johnson was charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Plaintiff, on behalf of decedent's estate, brought this wrongful death action against Cabarrus County ("County"), Cabarrus County Department of Social Services ("DSS"), Director of DSS James Cook ("Cook"), DSS Supervisor/Program Administrator Connie Polk ("Polk"), DSS Supervisors Hope Moose ("Moose"), Angela Ratliff ("Ratliff"), DSS Social Workers Crystalle Williams ("Williams"), Tonya Hart ("Hart"), Robin Fox ("Fox"), and Christy Belk ("Belk"), and Intern Caroline Leavelle ("Leavelle"). In the complaint plaintiff alleges that DSS supervisory employees failed to adequately train and supervise subordinate employees. Plaintiff further alleges that Cook negligently failed to adequately assign personnel, maintain workloads, request sufficient resources, implement policies and procedures needed to perform essential DSS functions, and comply with applicable guidelines and laws.
On 9 March 2007, Leavelle amended her answer to plaintiff's complaint, which raised governmental and public official immunity. Leavelle included a motion to dismiss plaintiff's claims in her individual and official capacity pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure and raised immunity under the public duty doctrine. Subsequent to Leavelle's motion, the rest of defendants filed timely motions to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure in their individual and official capacities. On 23 July 2007 and 16 August 2007, motions filed by defendants were heard in Cabarrus County Superior Court. The Honorable Susan C. Taylor and the Honorable Clarence E. Horton, Jr., granted the motions to dismiss plaintiff's claims against defendants in their individual capacities and denied motions to dismiss plaintiff's claims against defendants in their official capacities. All defendants filed timely notice of appeal.1
This is an interlocutory appeal, since it fails to "dispose[ ] of the cause as to all the parties, leaving nothing to be judicially determined between them in the trial court." Veazey v. Durham, 231 N.C. 357, 361-62, 57 S.E.2d 377, 381, reh'g denied, 232 N.C. 744, 59 S.E.2d 429 (1950). Generally, there is no immediate appeal from an interlocutory order. Harris v. Matthews, 361 N.C. 265,...
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...(1998) ; Braswell v. Braswell, 330 N.C. 363, 370–71, 410 S.E.2d 897, 901 (1991) ; Christmas v. Cabarrus Cnty., 192 N.C.App. 227, 232–33, 664 S.E.2d 649, 652–53 (2008), disc. rev. denied 363 N.C. 372, 678 S.E.2d 234, 235 (2009). Moreover, the record demonstrates that the two narrow exception......
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Jane Doe v. Charlotte–Mecklenburg Bd. of Educ., No. COA11–1466.
...be erroneously permitted to proceed to trial, immunity would be effectively lost.’ ” Christmas v. Cabarrus Cty., 192 N.C.App. 227, 231, 664 S.E.2d 649, 652 (2008) (quoting Slade v. Vernon, 110 N.C.App. 422, 425, 429 S.E.2d 744, 746 (1993), implicit overruling on other grounds [731 S.E.2d 24......
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