Helm v. APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY

670 S.E.2d 571, 194 N.C. App. 239, 28 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 953, 2008 N.C. App. LEXIS 2251
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedDecember 16, 2008
DocketCOA08-30
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 670 S.E.2d 571 (Helm v. APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Helm v. APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY, 670 S.E.2d 571, 194 N.C. App. 239, 28 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 953, 2008 N.C. App. LEXIS 2251 (N.C. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinions

ELMORE, Judge.

Jane P. Helm (plaintiff) asserted claims against her former employer, Appalachian State University (defendant Appalachian State or the university) and its Chancellor, Kenneth E. Peacock (defendant Peacock), in his official capacity for violations of the North Carolina Whistleblower Act (the Whistleblower Act) and the [241]*241North Carolina Constitution. She appeals from a 28 August 2007 order dismissing her complaint with prejudice. For the reasons stated below, we affirm the order of the trial court.

I. Background

Plaintiff alleged the following facts in her 31 May 2007 complaint: Plaintiff became the Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs at defendant Appalachian State in 1994. Her duties included managing the university’s business and financial affairs, including oversight of some campus construction. During her tenure at the university, plaintiff performed her professional duties in a satisfactory manner and her employment file contained no complaints or disciplinary actions. In 2004, defendant Peacock became plaintiff’s supervisor.

In early May 2006, defendant Peacock asked plaintiff to issue a non-refundable $10,000.00 check from the University Endowment Fund to Michael Cash “to obtain an option to purchase real property for $475,000 that could be exercised on or before September 1, 2006.” In 2005, Cash had approached James M. Deal, Jr., who was a member of the university’s Board of Trustees, to ask if the university was interested in purchasing a 10.889 acre property in Boone (the property). Cash and Deal had a prior business or personal relationship and, in May 2006, either Cash or Deal informed defendant Peacock that “Cash was in need of funds to pay his mortgage on this real property.”

Plaintiff informed defendant Peacock that “there were insufficient funds for [the university] to exercise the option on or before September 1, 2006.” Defendant Peacock instructed “plaintiff to pay Mr. Cash the $10,000 because Mr. Cash needed the money to pay his mortgage.” Plaintiff again refused, explaining that the University Endowment Fund did not have sufficient funds to exercise the option and that “paying $10,000 to Mr. Cash under these circumstances would be an inappropriate use of state funds.”

Plaintiff then complained to a university attorney, David Larry, and expressed her belief that “paying $10,000 to Mr. Cash would be an inappropriate use of state funds because the $10,000 would be used to pay his mortgage and there were insufficient funds to exercise the option.” Larry responded, “Do you think he would ever admit he said that in a court of law?”

Defendant Peacock’s Chief of Staff, Lorin Baumhover, later informed plaintiff that “he could obtain the $10,000 for the option from the Provost if plaintiff could come up with the $465,000 to exer[242]*242cise the option.” Plaintiff maintained that there were insufficient funds to exercise the option and that sufficient funds would not be available by September 2006, when the option expired. “Mr. Baumhover responded that defendant Peacock wanted this to happen. He also stated that Mr. Cash had sent several e-mails saying he needed to make his mortgage payment.”

On 2 June 2006, the Endowment Committee of the university’s Board of Trustees approved the purchase of the option for $10,000.00; plaintiff abstained from the vote. That day, defendant Peacock requested a meeting with plaintiff, during which he told her that he had been “uncomfortable” working with her for a year and a half. Plaintiff expressed surprise, noting that defendant Peacock had made only positive comments to her about her work performance. Plaintiff told defendant Peacock that she wished to continue working and asked how she could improve their working relationship; defendant Peacock replied that there was nothing that she could do and that she was “not a team player.” Defendant Peacock then asked plaintiff for her resignation effective 30 June 2006. Plaintiff responded that she was “devastated” and concerned that she would not be able to find another comparable job because she was sixty-three years old. “Defendant Peacock explained that this decision had nothing to do with her work performance, which was outstanding.”

Plaintiff chose early retirement over resignation and informed defendant Peacock via the following e-mail:

I have decided to retire rather than resign from [the university]. Because of the time required to process both the state retirement and social security payments, I am requesting that I be placed on paid administrative leave for three months. It is critical that I have benefits during this time.

Defendant Peacock replied by e-mail that he would honor her request for continued benefits and prepare her administrative leave paperwork. Plaintiff maintains that she “was forcibly separated, not voluntarily retired,” from the university and that her termination has caused her to suffer ongoing financial hardship. She also alleged in her complaint that the university purchased the option from Cash for $10,000.00 but did not exercise the option.

In her complaint, plaintiff alleged that defendants violated the Whistleblower Act by unlawfully retaliating against her, discriminating against her, and discharging her because she reported defendant Peacock’s inappropriate conduct to Larry and refused to “carry out [243]*243defendant Peacock’s directive to pay Mr. Cash $10,000,” which she characterized as an “inappropriate use of state funds.” Plaintiff also asserted violations of her rights to equal protection, due process, and freedom of speech under sections 14, 19, and 32 of Article .1 of the North Carolina Constitution.

Defendants then moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed her due process claim pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1). After a hearing, the trial court dismissed the remainder of plaintiff’s claims by written order. Plaintiff now appeals, alleging (1) that her complaint stated valid claims for relief under the Whistleblower Act and the North Carolina Constitution, (2) that defendants are not entitled to sovereign immunity, (3) that the trial court should have permitted plaintiff to amend her complaint under Rule 15(a), (4) that the trial court should have granted plaintiff’s request that the dismissal be entered without prejudice, and (5) that the trial court erred by refusing to make findings of fact and conclusions of law.

II. Failure to State a Claim

We review the trial court’s dismissal for failure to state á claim by inquiring

whether, as a matter of law, the allegations of the complaint, treated as true, are sufficient to state a claim upon which relief may be granted under some legal theory. Rule 12(b)(6) generally precludes dismissal except in those instances where the face of the complaint discloses some insurmountable bar to recovery. Dismissal is proper, however, when one of the following three conditions is satisfied: (1) the complaint on its face reveals that no law supports the plaintiff’s claim; (2) the complaint on its face reveals the absence of facts sufficient to make a good claim;.or (3) the complaint discloses some fact that necessarily defeats the plaintiff’s claim.

Newberne v. Department of Crime Control & Pub. Safety, 359 N.C. 782, 784-85, 618 S.E.2d 201, 203-04 (2005) (quotations and citations omitted).

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Helm v. APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY
670 S.E.2d 571 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2008)

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Bluebook (online)
670 S.E.2d 571, 194 N.C. App. 239, 28 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 953, 2008 N.C. App. LEXIS 2251, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/helm-v-appalachian-state-university-ncctapp-2008.