Nguyen v. Taylor By failing to respond to plaintiffs’ request for admissions, defendant Taylor admitted (1) that he defamed plaintiffs by placing on a DVD a doctored recording that made it appear - falsely - that Taylor was wrongfully arrested and (2) he made more than $10 million from sales of the DVD.

Tagged with: Civil Practice Damages defamation discovery Tort/Negligence Unfair Trade Practices

Wood v. South Carolina Bank & Trust Co. of the Piedmont, N.A. As late as May 13, 2008, plaintiff continued to follow the defendant-bank’s instructions and contracted to sell his home. Plaintiff did not learn of the bank’s purported fraud until after the bank allegedly blocked this sale, which was in late June. Based on plaintiff’s allegations, he filed his June 20, 2011 complaint within the three-year statute of limitations for fraud.

Tagged with: Civil Practice Fraud Statute of Limitations Tort/Negligence Unfair Trade Practices

Security Credit Corp. v. Mid/East Acceptance Corp. of N.C. Plaintiffs’ unfair trade practices and punitive damages claims are based on defendants’ alleged champerty and maintenance. Since the champerty and maintenance were not part of defendants’ regular business, they were not “in commerce” within the meaning of G.S. § 75-1.1.

Tagged with: Obstruction of Justice Punitive Damages Tort/Negligence Unfair Trade Practices

Aecom Technology Corp. v. Keating By alleging that defendant Keating was one of plaintiffs’ corporate officers, plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged that Keating owed plaintiffs a fiduciary duty. Defendants’ motion to dismiss is denied as to plaintiffs’ breach of fiduciary duty, unfair trade practices, and conspiracy claims. Defendants’ motion to dismiss is granted as to plaintiffs’ misappropriation of trade secrets and tortious interference with contract claims.

Tagged with: Breach of Fiduciary Duty Conspiracy Interference With Contract misappropriation of trade secrets Tort/Negligence Unfair Trade Practices

In re Fifth Third Bank Even though appraisals of mountain property were six times higher than the land’s final tax value, we reject the buyers’ claims of unfair trade practices, negligence and negligent misrepresentation because the buyers did not rely upon the appraisals in deciding whether to purchase the lots. Where the underlying tort claims fail, the claim of civil conspiracy also fails. Further, we affirm the trial court’s award of costs to defendants, and affirm exclusion of plaintiff’s expert testimony, which was submitted late and included false statements as to the timing.

Tagged with: Contract Real Property Tort/Negligence Unfair Trade Practices

Crop Production Services, Inc. v. Ormond Defendants allege generally that, once this contract dispute arose, plaintiff strong-armed defendants’ usual suppliers into refusing to do business with defendants. However, defendants do not explicitly assert that they expected to buy supplies from their “regular suppliers”; moreover, defendants do not allege the nature and length of their relationship with these suppliers or even the suppliers’ names and locations. Therefore, defendants have failed to state a claim for tortious interference with a prospective economic advantage.

Tagged with: Negligence Tort/Negligence Unfair Trade Practices

Diverse Networks v. Time Warner Entertainment-Advance/Newhouse Partnership Even though neither the complaint nor the answer makes any reference to the parties’ 2002 contract, their briefs discuss at length the terms and application of law to the 2002 contract as if it is the most important point of contention between the parties. The evidence and arguments presented by both parties have placed an unpleaded claim before the court.

Tagged with: Civil Practice Contract Negligent Misrepresentation Pleadings Amendment Quantum Meruit Unfair Trade Practices

Akzo Nobel Coatings Inc. v. Rogers Although the restrictions in defendants’ Rogers’ and Taylor’s covenants not to compete are broad, since the covenants were entered into as part of a corporate buy-out, and since they are governed by Delaware law, the covenants survive defendants‘ motion for judgment on the pleadings.

Tagged with: Punitive Damages Tort/Negligence Unfair Trade Practices

Bumpers v. Community Bank of Northern Virginia When defendant charged plaintiffs for something it did not provide - a discount on the loan rate - defendant committed an unfair trade practice. We affirm summary judgment for plaintiffs on their unfair trade practices claim based on the loan discount fee. We reverse summary judgment for plaintiffs as to the issue of excessive closing fees. On remand, the trial court may consider the question of class certification.

Tagged with: Banks & Banking Unfair Trade Practices

Fisher v. Communication Workers of America Plaintiffs’ claims — that defendants violated North Carolina’s Identity Theft Protection Act and Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act by posting a list of plaintiffs’ names and social security numbers after plaintiffs dropped out of the defendant-union - are preempted by the National Labor Relations Act. We affirm summary judgment for defendants.

Tagged with: Labor & Employment Preemption Unfair Trade Practices