The North Carolina Residential Property Disclosure Form gives sellers of real property the option of disclosing the existence of room additions, structural changes, and violations of building codes and zoning ordinances, if any, or to make “no representations.” Even where a seller makes no representations, however, a real estate licensee with knowledge of any of…
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On Friday, June 9, 2017, the North Carolina Supreme Court issued its eagerly anticipated decision in Wilkes v. City of Greenville, in significant part, unanimously affirming the Court of Appeals. Wilkes involves two primary issues. First, whether Johnnie Wilkes failed to meet his burden of establishing that his anxiety and depression were the result of…
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The Second Circuit,* (serving six districts within the states of Connecticut, New York, and Vermont) will reconsider its position, currently aligned with the vast majority of federal Circuits, that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not include sexual orientation as a protected class. Title VII prohibits discrimination in the employment context…
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Walker v. North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners and Its Meaning for Professional Licensees in North Carolina North Carolina currently has fifty-five occupational licensing agencies. These agencies regulate professions including law, medicine, engineering, surveying, therapy, and real estate. Generally, the agencies regulate their particular professions by enforcing rules of ethics and practice. Their rules are…
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When Plaintiffs are injured at work under circumstances which raise the question of whether the precipitating activity was “in furtherance of” versus “incidental to” the job duties assigned and the employer’s interest, the North Carolina Courts will look closely at the nature of the activity and the behavior immediately prior to the incident to determine…
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In recent years, attendant care provided under North Carolina’s Workers’ Compensation Act has gotten quite a bit of attention in the appellate courts and at the General Assembly. In particular, the Court of Appeals’ 2011 decision in Shackleton v. Southern Flooring & Acoustical Company presented a challenge for employers. Reversing the Commission’s denial of an attendant…
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In Holmes v. Associate Pipe Line Contractors, Inc., the Court of Appeals determined that post-offer contingencies, such as background checks and drug testing, constitute the “last act” necessary to create a contract of employment. On October 29, 2013, Plaintiff, who was living in North Carolina, was contacted via telephone by a union representative and offered…
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A List of Do’s and Do Not’s for North Carolina General Contractors in a post-Salinas Era. In Salinas v. Commercial Interiors, Inc., 848 F.3d 125 (4th Cir. 2017), the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals laid out a new test for determining when two or more individuals or corporate entities should be considered “joint employers” of…
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Recently, Partners Bill Bulfer and Bryan Simpson were featured in a Ringler Radio podcast discussing drone liability and litigation. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without a human pilot aboard. Drones were originally associated by the military, but are now used for other purposes, with estimates of over…
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On April 6, 2017, the North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Opioid Task Force held its first organizational meeting to study and recommend solutions for the problems arising from the intersection of the opioid epidemic and related issues in Worker’s Compensation claims. The Task Force has not yet issued a report or timeline for when a report…
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