Unfair & Deceptive Practices

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The issue here was whether the parties had reached an agreement by which defendant was to pay fees to plaintiff for managing an advertising program. Plaintiff alleged that the agreement was "non-cancellable" for a term of one year. The Court found that the correspondence relied upon by plaintiff did not establish a binding contract. Although…

Plaintiff sued a departed employee, alleging that she had violated her confidentiality agreement and her non-competition agreement. The Court found defendant’s new employer had not tortiously interfered with her contract. It found the provision on which plaintiff relied, restricting its employees from providing services to any of its clients for 180 days following the termination…

The Court refused to reconsider its decision that plaintiffs were not entitled to make an unfair and deceptive practices claim. It had previously found that such claims could not be made due to the extensive regulatory scheme surrounding the matters at issue.

The Court did reconsider, however, its determination that the plaintiffs were not entitled…

Plaintiff, a state agency, charged that the defendants had engaged in a conspiracy to fix prices for environmental consulting work. The defendants claimed that they were entitled to immunity under the Noerr-Pennington doctrine. The Court rejected this argument, characterizing defendants’ supposedly protected conduct as involving the submission of false data for the purpose of inflating…

The plaintiff claimed that the defendant caused its business to fail. The defendant asserted plaintiff’s business had failed because he used illegal drugs, had extramarital affairs, and because he "had a propensity to sleep and fish during the day."

When the defendant sought to question the owner of the plaintiff about these matters at his…

The law of North Carolina requires a disclosure by an automobile manufacturer when a repurchased vehicle (a lemon) is re-sold. Failing to do so constitutes "lemon laundering." Plaintiffs claimed that the manufacturer was responsible for policing its dealers to make sure that they made the required disclosures when the dealers sold a car that they…

This was a class action for unfair trade practices against a weight loss clinic. Plaintiffs’ claim rested partly on their argument that their contracts required them to buy prescriptions from the defendant at a price higher than they would have paid at an outside pharmacy. The Court granted summary judgment on this claim, holding that…

The Court found that the actions of the defendants in pirating away employees and accounts of the plaintiff exceeded the bounds of fair and ethical competition and therefore constitute unfair and deceptive practices.

The Court referred to defendants’ conduct as "surreptitious and intentional," and undertaken while the employees solicited were still employed by the plaintiff.

The case considered post-trial motions, after plaintiff did not prevail on its claims for defamation and unfair and deceptive practices. The court awarded costs for expert witness fees, pursuant to its discretionary authority under under N.C.G.S. §6-20. The Court also awarded attorneys’ fees pursuant to N.C.G.S. §75-16.1, which permits an award of attorneys’ fees when…