Trought v. Richardson, 853SC419
| Docket Nº | No. 853SC419 |
| Citation | 78 N.C.App. 758, 338 S.E.2d 617 |
| Case Date | January 21, 1986 |
| Court | Court of Appeal of North Carolina (US) |
Page 617
v.
Jack RICHARDSON, Fred Brown, and Pitt County Memorial Hospital, Inc.
[78 N.C.App. 761] Solberg and Bates-Smith by Patrice Solberg, Chapel Hill, for plaintiff-appellant.
Mullins and Van Hoy, Charlotte, by Philip M. Van Hoy and James T. Cheatham, Greenville, for defendant-appellees.
Page 619
WEBB, Judge.
The judgment does not dispose of all claims and is interlocutory. In our discretion we shall determine the appeal.
The plaintiff's first claim is to an invasion of her privacy. There are several types of claims for invasion of privacy which have been recognized by the courts in this country. See W. Keeton, Prosser and Keeton on The Law of Torts § 117, at 849 (5th ed. 1984). One type is an appropriation, for the defendant's benefit, of the plaintiff's name or likeness. This type of claim was recognized in Flake v. News Co., 212 N.C. 780, 195 S.E. 55 (1938) and Barr v. Telephone Co., 13 N.C.App. 388, 185 S.E.2d 714 (1972). The plaintiff does not contend that her privacy was invaded by an appropriation. The plaintiff apparently contends that her privacy was invaded by a public disclosure of private facts or by publicity which placed her in a false light in the public eye. Our Supreme Court held in Renwick v. News and Observer, 310 N.C. 312, 312 S.E.2d 405 (1984) that there is no claim for a false light invasion of privacy in this state. If the plaintiff has a claim it is for an invasion of privacy by a public disclosure of private facts. We have not found a case in this state which deals with such a claim but there are cases from other jurisdictions and there is textbook authority on this type of claim. See Prosser and Keeton on The Law of Torts, supra.
As we understand the invasion of privacy by a public disclosure of private facts as this tort has developed in other jurisdictions the plaintiff has not stated a claim in this case. The tort consists of the disclosure to the public of facts which are true which disclosure would be highly offensive and objectionable to a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities. In this case the individual defendants are alleged to have told other employees of the hospital and one person not an employee who attended an employees' meeting that the plaintiff was discharged for a "lack of credibility." We do not believe this is the type of public disclosure which is required for a claim for invasion of privacy. The individual[78 N.C.App. 762] defendants told a group composed, with one exception, of the plaintiff's fellow employees of the reason...
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Frazier v. First Union Nat. Bank, C-C-89-257-P.
...outrageous conduct (2) which is intended to cause and does cause (3) severe emotional distress to another. See Trought v. Richardson, 78 N.C.App. 758, 338 S.E.2d 617, 620, review denied, 316 N.C. 557, 344 S.E.2d 18 (1986). Only when the conduct "exceeds all bounds usually tolerated by decen......
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Ihekwu v. City of Durham, N.C., 1:99CV00420.
...as ordinances." Id. (citing Howell v. Town of Carolina Beach, 106 N.C.App. 410, 417, 417 S.E.2d 277, 281 (1992)); Trought v. Richardson, 78 N.C.App. 758, 760, 338 S.E.2d 617, 618, disc. rev. denied, 316 N.C. 557, 344 S.E.2d 18 (1986). Plaintiff alleges that the City's ordinance, which gave ......
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Norman v. Tradewinds Airlines, Inc., 1:02 CV 918.
...representations, constituted a contract binding on TradeWinds. Norman argues that his case should be aligned with Trought v. Richardson, 78 N.C.App. 758, 338 S.E.2d 617 (1986), in which the court reversed dismissal on a wrongful discharge claim, on the basis that a policy manual had become ......
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Lorbacher v. Housing Authority of City of Raleigh, COA97-129
...her for refusing to violate hospital operating procedures and spread false and malicious statements about the reasons for her discharge. 78 N.C.App. 758, 338 S.E.2d 617, disc. review denied, 316 N.C. 557, 344 S.E.2d 18 (1986). The Court held that as a matter of law the conduct did not "exce......