Most Important Opinions

1. Criminal Practice – Plain Error Review – Jury Instructions – Kidnapping 

   State v. Boyd We reverse for the reasons stated in Judge Stroud’s dissent: Since there was overwhelming evidence of confinement and restraint, defendant has not shown that, absent the instruction on removal, the jury probably would have returned a different verdict.

2. Labor & Employment – Contract – OB/GYN – Hospital – Private Practice 

   Halifax Regional Medical Center, Inc. v. Brown Where the plaintiff-hospital and the third-party defendant-medical practice were not in a joint venture, the practice’s termination of the defendant-doctor’s employment did not excuse his performance under his contract with the hospital.

3. Labor & Employment – Unemployment Compensation – Resignation – New Vehicle Policy 

   King v. North Carolina Department of Commerce Despite petitioner’s testimony that he did not believe $60 per week was enough to compensate him for the wear and tear that would be caused to his personal vehicle by a 212-mile roundtrip commute to work, the respondent-agency could find that plaintiff failed to show he had good cause to resign when the respondent-employer stopped providing vehicles to its employees and instead started paying for gas plus $60 per week for wear and tear to the employees’ personal vehicles.