Truesdale v. University of North Carolina

371 S.E.2d 503, 91 N.C. App. 186, 3 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1268, 1988 N.C. App. LEXIS 805
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedSeptember 6, 1988
Docket8721SC1218
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 371 S.E.2d 503 (Truesdale v. University of North Carolina) 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
Truesdale v. University of North Carolina, 371 S.E.2d 503, 91 N.C. App. 186, 3 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1268, 1988 N.C. App. LEXIS 805 (N.C. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

*188 SMITH, Judge.

Plaintiff instituted this action against Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) alleging that she was employed on 14 November 1984 as a campus security officer. The record discloses that at the time of plaintiffs employment she was informed that prior to becoming a permanent employee she would be a probationary employee for nine months and would be required to take a polygraph examination as part of the requirements for becoming certified as a company police officer. The Attorney General, through the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission, had adopted administrative rules requiring that candidates for certification as company police officers take and successfully pass a polygraph examination. 12 N.C.A.C. .0201 et seq. Plaintiff was informed that if she failed to be certified as a company police officer she could still become a permanent employee if she passed the basic law enforcement officer course and was appointed a special deputy of Forsyth County. Plaintiff agreed to submit to the polygraph examination. On 29 April 1985 and 8 July 1985, plaintiff failed to appear for the scheduled polygraph examinations. She was given time off from work for the first examination. Plaintiff alleges that she refused to take the scheduled polygraph examinations after receiving information that some of the examination questions would address her sexual practices, preferences and partners. On 31 July 1985, defendant notified plaintiff that her employment would be terminated effective 13 August 1985 for insubordination arising out of her refusal to take the polygraph examination.

Plaintiff alleged in her first claim for relief that WSSU violated her rights as guaranteed by the Fifth, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and that defendant’s actions violated 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. Plaintiff alleged in her second claim for relief that WSSU’s acts constituted an unlawful attempt to administer a polygraph examination in violation of 12 N.C.A.C. .0304(a)(1). During oral argument in this Court, plaintiffs counsel abandoned this second claim for relief. Plaintiff requested reinstatement to her position with back salary and restoration of all benefits.

WSSU filed an answer which denied the material allegations of plaintiffs complaint. In addition, defendant alleged that: the *189 complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and should be dismissed pursuant to G.S. 1A-1, Rule 12(b)(6); WSSU is immune from suit under the doctrine of sovereign immunity; WSSU is not a “person” subject to suit under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983; and plaintiffs acceptance of probationary employment constituted a waiver of any rights she might have had to refuse to take the polygraph examination.

On 21 October 1986, plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment. Thereafter, on 28 August 1987, plaintiff filed an amended complaint naming as additional defendants the University of North Carolina (UNC); Robert Fenning (Fenning), Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs at WSSU; and James W. Lewis (Lewis), Director of Campus Police at WSSU. The material allegations of the amended complaint were essentially the same as contained in plaintiffs initial complaint. Defendants filed an answer incorporating the denials and defenses alleged in the original answer. On 15 September 1987, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff and defendants filed affidavits, exhibits and depositions supporting their respective motions for summary judgment. On 19 October 1987, the trial court granted plaintiffs motion for summary judgment and ordered reinstatement with back wages. In granting plaintiffs motion, the trial court concluded that: plaintiffs termination for refusal to submit to the polygraph examination violated her rights as guaranteed by the Fifth, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 19 of the North Carolina Constitution as well as 42 U.S.C. Section 1983; the polygraph examination failed to comply with the requirements of Warren v. City of Asheville, 74 N.C. App. 402, 328 S.E. 2d 859, disc. rev. denied, 314 N.C. 336, 333 S.E. 2d 496 (1985); and the polygraph requirement for company police officer certification was without statutory authorization. Defendants appeal assigning as error the court’s granting of summary judgment in plaintiffs favor in that (1) there is no constitutional prohibition against the use of the polygraph examination in conducting background investigations of prospective law enforcement officers; (2) plaintiff has alleged no claim for relief under the North Carolina Constitution; (3) plaintiffs discharge did not violate her right to privacy or her privilege against self-incrimination; (4) there is statutory authority for requiring a polygraph examination in this instance; and (5) *190 the trial court had no authority to order defendants to pay plaintiffs back wages. Additionally, defendants assign error to the trial court’s denial of their motion for summary judgment.

We note that the record before this Court contains no order permitting plaintiff to file her amended complaint. A plaintiff may amend a complaint once as a matter of right at any time before a responsive pleading is served. G.S. 1A-1, Rule 15(a). Thereafter, the rule requires leave of the court to file an amended complaint. Plaintiffs amended complaint was filed some thirteen months after defendants’ answer was served. Though we are unable to determine from the record that the court granted leave to file the amended complaint, we choose to address the merits of this case “[t]o prevent manifest injustice.” App.R. 2.

We first address defendants’ assignments of error to the trial court’s conclusions that the rule in question was adopted without statutory authority and is thus invalid, that the proposed polygraph examination would not have met the requirements of Warren v. City of Asheville, and that the polygraph examination violates Article I, sec. 19 of the North Carolina Constitution. Neither the complaint nor the amended complaint present these issues. In Moody v. Kersey, 270 N.C. 614, 155 S.E. 2d 215 (1967), our Supreme Court held that a “plaintiff must make out [her] case secundum allegata. There can be no recovery except on the case made by [her] pleadings.” Id. at 618, 155 S.E. 2d at 218 (citations omitted).

Under North Carolina’s “notice theory of pleading,” a trial proceeds on the issues raised by the pleadings unless the pleadings are amended. If an issue not raised by the pleadings is tried by the “implied consent” of the parties, the pleadings are deemed amended, as in a contract case in which plaintiff, without objection, presents evidence of negligence. When, however, the evidence used to support the new issue would also be relevant to support the issue raised by the pleadings, the defendant has not been put on notice of plaintiffs new or alternate theory. Therefore, defendant’s failure to object does not constitute “implied consent.”

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Bluebook (online)
371 S.E.2d 503, 91 N.C. App. 186, 3 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1268, 1988 N.C. App. LEXIS 805, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/truesdale-v-university-of-north-carolina-ncctapp-1988.