Regan v. West Point Stevens ( 1998 )

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
BOBBY RAY REGAN,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
WESTPOINT STEVENS, INCORPORATED,
No. 96-2005
formerly known as WestPoint
Pepperell, Incorporated; TIM
LAGROWN,
Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Wilmington.
James C. Fox, District Judge.
(CA-96-12-7-F)
Submitted: January 20, 1998
Decided: March 16, 1998
Before WILKINS and MICHAEL, Circuit Judges, and
HALL, Senior Circuit Judge.
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Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
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COUNSEL
Clifford Leon Lee, II, THE LEE LAW FIRM, P.A., Fayetteville,
North Carolina, for Appellant. James M. Powell, D. Ross Hamilton,
Jr., HAYNSWORTH, BALDWIN, JOHNSON & GREAVES,
Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellees.
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Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
Local Rule 36(c).
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OPINION
PER CURIAM:
Bobby Ray Regan was employed by WestPoint Stevens, Inc., from
August 31, 1977, to May 6, 1993. In April 1993, management at one
of the employer's plants investigated reports of drugs being used or
sold at the plant. In his investigation, the director of security
requested that Regan provide a urine sample. In an effort to comply
with the investigation, Regan drank eight glasses of water over a six-
hour period but was unable to produce a sufficient quantity of urine
for testing. This conduct was deemed a failure to cooperate with the
employer's investigation and Regan's employment was terminated
pursuant to company policy.
Regan filed this civil action alleging that he was wrongfully dis-
charged from his employment.1 The district court granted the employ-
er's Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a
claim. We affirm.
On review of a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, dis-
missal is properly granted if, construing the allegations in the light
most favorable to the plaintiff and assuming facts alleged in the com-
plaint to be true, it is clear as a matter of law that no relief could be
granted under any set of facts that could be proved consistent with the
allegations.2 With this in mind, we now address Regan's wrongful ter-
mination claim.
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1 Regan asserted five claims in the district court, but only raised the
wrongful termination claim on appeal; therefore, he has waived appellate
review of the remaining claims. See Tucker v. Waddell, 83 F.3d 688, 690
(4th Cir. 1996) (holding that issues not briefed or argued deemed aban-
doned).
2 See Hishon v. King & Spalding , 467 U.S. 69, 73 (1984); Revene v.
Charles County Comm'rs, 882 F.2d 870, 872 (4th Cir. 1989).
2
Because Regan was employed at WestPoint Stevens without an
agreement for a specific duration, he was an at-will employee.3 Typi-
cally, either party in an employment-at-will relationship can terminate
the relationship for an arbitrary or irrational reason or for no reason
at all, thereby generally leaving an employee in such a relationship
without relief for claims of wrongful discharge. 4 However, if an
employment-at-will relationship is terminated for an unlawful reason
or for a purpose that contravenes public policy, then the terminated
employee may assert a claim for wrongful discharge. 5
North Carolina law provides several public policy exceptions to the
employee-at-will rule. For example, it is against public policy to ter-
minate an employee based on his honest testimony against an
employer or his refusal to testify dishonestly. 6 In addition, an
employee may not be terminated for refusing to disobey the law,7 or
for refusing to work for less than minimum wage. 8 However, the
scope of these public policy exceptions is narrow. 9
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3 See Still v. Lance, 182 S.E.2d 403, 406 (N.C. 1971).
4 See Tompkins v. Allen, 421 S.E.2d 176, 178 (N.C. Ct. App. 1992).
5 See Coman v. Thomas Mfg. Co., 381 S.E.2d 445, 447 (N.C. 1989);
Sides v. Duke Univ., 328 S.E.2d 818, 826 (N.C. Ct. App. 1985).
6 See Sides, 328 S.E.2d at 826 (finding that termination contravened
public policy when termination was based on employee's refusal to
falsely testify against her employer); Williams v. Hillhaven Corp., 370
S.E.2d 423, 426 (N.C. Ct. App. 1988) (expanding policy exception to
protect discharged employee who testified honestly in an unemployment
compensation hearing); but cf. Daniel v. Carolina Sunrock Corp., 436
S.E.2d 835, 836 (N.C. 1993) (holding that discharge of subpoenaed
employee, who expressed willingness to testify honestly, did not violate
public policy).
7 See Coman, 381 S.E.2d at 447 (public policy exception created for
terminated employee who refused to violate government highway safety
rules).
8 See Amos v. Oakdale Knitting Co. , 416 S.E.2d 166 (N.C. 1992).
9 See Boesche v. Raleigh-Durham Airport Auth., 432 S.E.2d 137, 139-
40 (N.C. Ct. App. 1993) (refusing to find exception for terminated
employee who held position of public safety and refused to submit to
random drug test).
3
In the case at bar, Regan seeks relief from the employment-at-will
rule by asserting that his termination was done untruthfully, "deliber-
ately without provocation in an unprofessional manner," subjecting
Regan to "irreparable harm." Regan, however, has not shown how his
employer's behavior satisfied any of the recognized public policy
exceptions to the employment-at-will rule. Construing Regan's alle-
gations in a light most favorable to him and assuming the facts
alleged in the complaint are true, Regan has established, at most, that
his employment was terminated in bad faith. However, because North
Carolina does not recognize bad faith as an exception to the
employment-at-will rule, such allegations do not rise to the level of
public policy concern.10 Consequently, Regan failed to state a claim
of wrongful termination.
We affirm the dismissal of Regan's complaint for failure to state
a claim. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court
and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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10 See Amos, 416 S.E.2d at 173; Tompkins, 421 S.E.2d at 178.
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