McLaughlin v. Barclays American Corp., No. 8822SC1211

• Docket Nº: No. 8822SC1211
• Citation: 382 S.E.2d 836, 95 N.C.App. 301
• Case Date: September 05, 1989
• Court: Court of Appeal of North Carolina (US)

Page 836

382 S.E.2d 836 95 N.C.App. 301, 113 Lab.Cas. P 56,148 Leon McLAUGHLIN
v.
BARCLAYS AMERICAN CORP., d/b/a Barclays American Financial,
W.T. Tyler and Robert Ballard. No. 8822SC1211. Court of Appeals of North Carolina. Sept. 5, 1989.

Page 837

[95 N.C.App. 302] David W. Minor, Statesville, for plaintiff-appellant.

Elarbee, Thompson & Trapnell by J. Lewis Sapp, Atlanta, Ga., and Petree, Stockton & Robinson by Richard E. Fay, Charlotte, for defendants-appellees.

BECTON, Judge.

Plaintiff brought this action seeking compensatory and punitive damages for breach of his employment contract, wrongful discharge, violation of public policy, and malicious interference with contractual relations. Plaintiff alleges that his dismissal from his employment following an altercation with another employee was improper in that plaintiff's conduct was limited to his exercising self-defense. Following a hearing on the defendants' motion for summary judgment, the trial court granted summary judgment in their favor. Plaintiff appeals, and we affirm.

I

Defendant Barclays American Corporation ("Barclays"), d/b/a Barclays American Financial, operates a branch office in Statesville, North Carolina. Plaintiff, Leon McLaughlin, served as the manager [95 N.C.App. 303] of that office until Barclays terminated his employment on 21 April 1987. At the time of his termination, Mr. McLaughlin had been employed with Barclays for some 14 years. For purposes of this appeal, we adopt Mr. McLaughlin's account of the events that led to his dismissal.

On 16 April 1987, Mr. McLaughlin attempted to counsel another Barclays' employee ("the subordinate") about the latter's

Page 838

work performance. During the session, the subordinate became argumentative, so much so that Mr. McLaughlin requested that he leave the room. The subordinate refused and continued to argue. Mr. McLaughlin then attempted to end the encounter by leaving the room himself. As he neared the door, the subordinate punched him in the chest. To defend himself, Mr. McLaughlin threw up his right hand; in so doing, he struck the subordinate on the side of the face. No further contact occurred between the two men, and no customer or other employee witnessed the encounter.

Mr. McLaughlin immediately telephoned Barclays' central office in Charlotte and told defendant Robert Ballard, a vice president with Barclays, about the incident. Later that day, another representative from the central office told Mr. McLaughlin that Barclays was sending a person to Statesville to relieve him of his duties. Barclays conducted no formal investigation of the altercation, although it did call Mr. McLaughlin to Charlotte the following day. There, Mr. McLaughlin recounted his version of the incident to Mr. Ballard, to defendant W.T. Tyler, a senior vice president with Barclays, and to another Barclays' representative. None of these three people took down his statement. Five days after the altercation, Mr. McLaughlin's immediate superior, offering "no explanation," informed Mr. McLaughlin that Barclays had decided to terminate his employment.

Prior to the 16 April altercation, Mr. McLaughlin had discussed the subordinate's attitude and behavior with his (Mr. McLaughlin's) superiors. On several occasions, he informed them that the subordinate was a disruptive presence in the branch office. On 15 September 1986, Mr. McLaughlin sent Mr. Ballard a memorandum alleging that the subordinate had made "threats of retaliation" if Mr. McLaughlin "attempt[ed] to do anything about this problem." Mr. McLaughlin ended the memorandum with a request for assistance.

[95 N.C.App. 304] In February 1987, during an attempt by Mr. McLaughlin to counsel him, the subordinate threw a cup of coffee at Mr. McLaughlin, splashing him in the chest, face and eyes. Mr. McLaughlin immediately informed Mr. Tyler and Mr. Ballard about the incident, and he again requested assistance in dealing with the subordinate. Neither Mr. Tyler nor Mr. Ballard offered any assistance or advice. Mr. McLaughlin attempted to receive assistance from the central office again in March, but again he received no help.

After his termination, Mr. McLaughlin filed a complaint against Barclays alleging breach of contract, wrongful discharge, malicious interference with contractual relations, and violation of public policy. Following discovery, the trial judge granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment, and Mr. McLaughlin appealed.

II

Summary judgment is appropriate when the pleadings, discovery documents, and affidavits demonstrate that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that a party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. E.g., Frendlich v. Vaughan's Foods of Henderson, Inc., 64 N.C.App. 332, 334, 307 S.E.2d 412, 414 (1983). As the non-moving party, the evidence in this case must be viewed in a light most favorable to Mr. McLaughlin. See id. Therefore, we accept Mr. McLaughlin's contention that his striking the subordinate resulted solely from his efforts to protect himself from battery. We further accept Mr. McLaughlin's claim that he did nothing to provoke the incident, and we accept that defendants had notice that Mr. McLaughlin desired advice and assistance concerning the subordinate's disruptive behavior. The issue before us, then, is whether the evidence, considered in this light, was sufficient to withstand defendants' motion for summary judgment. We hold that, as a matter of law, it was not.

A

Mr. McLaughlin contends that his discharge for acting in his own defense violates

Page 839

public policy. Essentially, he urges this court to recognize, as a public-policy exception to the employee-at-will doctrine, a cause of action for wrongful discharge when the termination results from the employee's use of self-defense.

We note at the outset that Mr. McLaughlin arguably alleges in his complaint that his employment with Barclays was for some definite duration and was not at will. His arguments on appeal, [95 N.C.App. 305] however, are predicated on his status as an at-will employee of Barclays. We do not discuss, consequently, his employment status as an issue in this case; were it at issue, we would hold that his...