Dalton v. Camp

• Decision Date: 20 July 2001
• Docket Number: No. 495PA99-2.,495PA99-2.
• Citation: 353 N.C. 647,548 S.E.2d 704
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: Robert Earl DALTON d/b/a B. Dalton & Company, v. David CAMP, Nancy J. Menius, and Millennium Communication Concepts, Inc.

548 S.E.2d 704

353 N.C. 647

Robert Earl DALTON d/b/a B. Dalton & Company, v. David CAMP, Nancy J. Menius, and Millennium Communication Concepts, Inc.

No. 495PA99-2.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

July 20, 2001.

Moser Schmidly Mason & Roose, by Stephen S. Schmidly; and Murchison, Taylor & Gibson, by Andrew K. McVey, Asheboro, for plaintiff-appellee.

Wyatt Early Harris & Wheeler, L.L.P., by William E. Wheeler, High Point, for defendant-appellants, David Camp and Millennium Communication Concepts, Inc.

Moore & Van Allen, P.L.L.C., by George M. Teague, Raleigh, on behalf of North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry, amicus curiae.

ORR, Justice.

This case arises out of an employer's allegations of unfair competitive activity by former employees and a new corporation formed by them. Plaintiff Robert Earl Dalton d/b/a B. Dalton & Company ("Dalton") produced, under a thirty-six month contract, an employee newspaper for Klaussner Furniture Industries ("KFI"). Dalton hired defendant David Camp ("Camp") to produce the publication and subsequently hired Nancy Menius ("Menius") to assist in the production of the employee newspaper. Near the conclusion of the contract period, Dalton began negotiations with KFI to continue publication. After the contract had expired, Dalton continued to publish the employee newspaper without benefit of a contract while talks between the parties continued. During this period, Camp, who was contemplating leaving Dalton's employ, established a competing publications entity, Millennium Communication Concepts, Inc. ("MCC"), and discussed with KFI officials the possibility of replacing Dalton as publisher of KFI's employee newspaper. Soon thereafter, Camp entered into a contract with KFI to produce the newspaper. He resigned from Dalton's employment approximately two weeks later.

In the wake of Camp's resignation, Dalton sued Camp, Menius, and MCC for breach of the fiduciary duty of loyalty, conspiracy to appropriate customers, tortious interference with contract, interference with prospective advantage, and unfair and deceptive acts or practices under chapter 75 of the North Carolina General Statutes. The trial court first dismissed Dalton's claim for tortious interference with contract and subsequently granted Camp's motion for summary judgment against Dalton for the remaining claims. In its initial review of the case, the Court of Appeals held that the trial court had properly granted summary judgment for all defendants as to the claim for unfair and deceptive trade practices. As for the claim for breach of duty of loyalty, the Court of Appeals held that summary judgment was proper for defendant Menius and improper for defendant Camp. As for Dalton's claim of tortious interference with prospective advantage, the Court of Appeals again held that summary judgment was properly granted for defendant Menius and improperly granted for defendant Camp. Dalton v. Camp, 135 N.C.App. 32, 519 S.E.2d 82 (1999). After this Court remanded the case to the Court of Appeals for further review in light of, inter alia, our holding in Sara Lee Corp. v. Carter, 351 N.C. 27, 519 S.E.2d 308 (1999), the Court of Appeals ultimately concluded that summary judgment was properly granted for: (1) all claims against Menius, and (2) the conspiracy to appropriate customers claim against Camp and MCC. The court also held that summary judgment was improperly granted for: (1) the breach of duty of loyalty claim against Camp, (2) the interference with prospective advantage claim against Camp and MCC, and (3) the unfair and deceptive trade practices claim against Camp and MCC.

For the reasons set forth below, we hold that the trial court properly granted summary judgment for all applicable claims, and we reverse those portions of the Court of Appeals opinion that hold otherwise. Thus, in sum, none of plaintiff Dalton's claims survive.

I.

We begin our analysis with an examination of Dalton's first claim against Camp which, as described in Dalton's complaint, constituted a breach of fiduciary duty, including a duty of loyalty. From the outset, we note that Dalton argues this claim from two distinct vantage points. First, he alleges that Camp breached his fiduciary duty by being disloyal. See Long v. Vertical Techs., Inc., 113 N.C.App. 598, 604, 439 S.E.2d 797, 802 (1994)

(defining fiduciary duty as one requiring good faith, fair dealing, and loyalty). Second, he argues that a separate and distinct action for breach of duty of loyalty exists and that Camp's conduct constituted a breach of that duty. We disagree with both contentions, holding that Dalton has failed to establish: (1) facts supporting a breach of fiduciary duty, and (2) that any independent tort for breach of duty of loyalty exists under state law.

Prior to trial, the trial court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment as to all pending claims. Summary judgment is a device whereby judgment is rendered if the pleadings, depositions, interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with any affidavits, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that any party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. N.C. R. Civ. P. 56(c); accord Fordham v. Eason, 351 N.C. 151, 159, 521 S.E.2d 701, 706 (1999)

. The rule is designed to eliminate the necessity of a formal trial where only questions of law are involved and a fatal weakness in the claim of a party is exposed. Econo-Travel Motor Hotel Corp. v. Taylor, 301 N.C. 200, 271 S.E.2d 54 (1980).

When considering a motion for summary judgment, the trial judge must view the presented evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Coats v. Jones, 63 N.C.App. 151, 303 S.E.2d 655, aff'd, 309 N.C. 815, 309 S.E.2d 253 (1983). Moreover, the party moving for summary judgment bears the burden of establishing the lack of any triable issue. Boudreau v. Baughman, 322 N.C. 331, 368 S.E.2d 849 (1988).

Thus, the question before us is whether the Court of Appeals properly concluded that genuine issues of material fact existed as to Dalton's claims against Camp for breach of fiduciary duty and/or breach of duty of loyalty. We address the specifics of Dalton's arguments supporting the Court of Appeals decision in successive order.

For a breach of fiduciary duty to exist, there must first be a fiduciary relationship between the parties. Curl v. Key, 311 N.C. 259, 264, 316 S.E.2d 272, 275 (1984); Link v. Link, 278 N.C. 181, 192, 179 S.E.2d 697, 704 (1971). Such a relationship has been broadly defined by this Court as one in which "there has been a special confidence reposed in one who in equity and good conscience is bound to act in good faith and with due regard to the interests of the one reposing confidence ..., [and] `it extends to any possible case in which a fiduciary relationship exists in fact, and in which there is confidence reposed on one side, and resulting domination and influence on the other.'" Abbitt v. Gregory, 201 N.C. 577, 598, 160 S.E. 896, 906 (1931) (quoting 25 C.J. Fiduciary § 9, at 1119 (1921)) (emphasis added), quoted in Patterson v. Strickland, 133 N.C.App. 510, 516, 515 S.E.2d 915, 919 (1999)

. However, the broad parameters accorded the term have been specifically limited in the context of employment situations. Under the general rule, "the relation of employer and employee is not one of those regarded as confidential." King v. Atlantic Coast Line R.R. Co., 157 N.C. 44, 72 S.E. 801 (1911); see also Hiatt v. Burlington Indus., Inc., 55 N.C.App. 523, 529, 286 S.E.2d 566, 569,

disc. rev. denied, 305 N.C. 395, 290 S.E.2d 365 (1982).

In applying this Court's definition of fiduciary relationship to the facts and circumstances of the instant case—in which employee Camp served as production manager for a division of employer Dalton's publishing business—we note the following: (1) the managerial duties of Camp were such that a certain level of confidence was reposed in him by Dalton; and (2) as a confidant of his employer, Camp was therefore bound to act in good faith and with due regard to the interests of Dalton. In our view, such circumstances, as shown here, merely serve to define the nature of virtually all employer-employee relationships; without more, they are inadequate to establish Camp's obligations as fiduciary in nature. No evidence suggests that his position in the workplace resulted in "domination and influence on the other [Dalton]," an essential component of any fiduciary relationship. See Abbitt, 201 N.C. at 598, 160 S.E. at 906. Camp was hired as an at-will employee to manage the production of a publication. His duties were those delegated to him by his employer, such as overseeing the business's day-to-day operations by ordering parts and supplies, operating within budgetary constraints, and meeting production deadlines. In sum, his responsibilities were not unlike those of employees in other businesses and can hardly be construed as uniquely positioning him to exercise dominion over Dalton. Thus, absent a finding that the employer in the instant case was somehow subjugated to the improper influences or domination of his employee—an unlikely scenario as a general proposition and one not evidenced by these facts in particular—we cannot conclude that a fiduciary relationship existed between the two. As a result, we hold that the trial court properly granted defendant Camp's motion for summary judgment as to Dalton's claim alleging a breach of fiduciary duty and reverse the Court of Appeals on this issue.

As for any claim asserted by Dalton for breach of a duty of loyalty (in an employment-related circumstance) outside the purview of a fiduciary relationship, we note from the outset that: (1) no case cited by plaintiff recognizes or supports the existence of such an independent claim, and (2) no pattern jury instruction exists for any such separate action. We additionally note that Dalton relies on cases he views as defining an independent duty of...