Jarrell v. Coastal Emergency Services of the Carolinas, Inc.

• Decision Date: 19 December 1995
• Docket Number: No. 94-1312,94-1312
• Parties: Lee Anne JARRELL, Administratrix of the Estate of Robert E.L. Jarrell, II, deceased, and John Lee Jarrell, by and through Carole B. McCullough, his Guardian Ad Litem, Plaintiffs, v. COASTAL EMERGENCY SERVICES OF THE CAROLINAS, INC., f/k/a Coastal Emergency Services of Durham, Inc., d/b/a Person Emergency Physicians, Coastal Emergency Services, Inc., Person County Memorial Hospital, Inc. and James N. Finch, M.D., Defendants.
• Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals

Page 720

464 S.E.2d 720

121 N.C.App. 198

Lee Anne JARRELL, Administratrix of the Estate of Robert

E.L. Jarrell, II, deceased, and John Lee Jarrell, by and through Carole B. McCullough, his Guardian Ad Litem, Plaintiffs, v. COASTAL EMERGENCY SERVICES OF THE CAROLINAS, INC., f/k/a

Coastal Emergency Services of Durham, Inc., d/b/a Person

Emergency Physicians, Coastal Emergency Services, Inc.,

Person County Memorial Hospital, Inc. and James N. Finch,

M.D., Defendants.

No. 94-1312.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

Dec. 19, 1995.

Bentley & Kilzer, P.A. by Charles A. Bentley, Jr. and Susan B. Kilzer, Durham, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan, L.L.P. by Samuel G. Thompson, John D. Madden, and James Y. Kerr, II, Raleigh, for defendants-appellees Coastal Emergency Services, Inc., Coastal Emergency Services of the Carolinas, Inc., and James N. Finch, M.D.

Yates, McLamb & Weyher by Bruce W. Berger, Raleigh, for defendant-appellee Person County Memorial Hospital, Inc.

Moore & Van Allen, PLLC by William E. Freeman, Durham, for appellee Cherri Campbell, M.D.

McGEE, Judge.

Following the filing of the record and briefs in this case, appellees filed a motion to dismiss the appeal, arguing it is interlocutory with no immediate right to appeal. After reviewing the record and transcripts, we agree and dismiss the appeal.

The trial court's orders completely dismissed the actions against defendants CES, CES-Carolinas, and Person County Memorial Hospital, and dismissed plaintiff John Jarrell's negligent infliction of emotional distress claim against defendant James Finch. Plaintiff Lee Anne Jarrell voluntarily dismissed her negligent infliction of emotional distress claim against Finch. However, the wrongful death action against Finch survives. Orders which do not dispose of the action as to all parties are interlocutory. Cunningham v. Brown, 51 N.C.App. 264, 267, 276 S.E.2d 718, 722 (1981). Ordinarily, there is no right of appeal from interlocutory orders. N.C.R. Civ.P. 54(b) (1990); Liggett Group v. Sunas, 113 N.C.App. 19, 23, 437 S.E.2d 674, 677 (1993).

However, there are two instances where a party may appeal interlocutory orders: 1) if there has been a final determination as to one or more of the claims and the trial court certifies there is no just reason to delay the appeal; or 2) if delaying the appeal would prejudice a substantial right. Rule 54(b); N.C.Gen.Stat. § 1-277 (1983); N.C.Gen.Stat. § 7A-27 (1989); Liggett Group, 113 N.C.App. at 23-24, 437 S.E.2d at 677. As appellants admit, the trial court made no certification. Therefore, appellants have no right to appeal the interlocutory orders absent a showing that a substantial right will be affected by not allowing the appeal prior to entry of final judgment.

Our courts have found a substantial right to be affected where a judgment "creates the possibility of inconsistent verdicts on the same issue--in the event an appeal eventually is successful," DeHaven v. Hoskins, 95 N.C.App. 397, 399, 382 S.E.2d 856, 858, disc. review denied, 325 N.C. 705, 388 S.E.2d 452 (1989), and where there is the possibility of two trials on the same issues, Green v. Duke Power Co., 305 N.C. 603, 608, 290 S.E.2d 593, 596 (1982). However, if there are no factual issues common to the claim determined and the claims remaining, no substantial right is affected. See Britt v. American Hoist and Derrick Co., 97 N.C.App. 442, 445, 388 S.E.2d 613, 615 (1990).

Contrary to appellants' contentions, their claims do not present identical factual issues which create the possibility of two trials on the same issue. The remaining claims against Finch involve negligence and wrongful death. Appellants stipulated that they abandoned any claims of independent acts of alleged negligence on the part of CES, CES-Carolina, and Person County Memorial Hospital. Therefore, any cause of action against those defendants is based solely upon a theory of respondeat superior. If appellants successfully prove the...