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Cooper v. Shealy12/5/2000
Appeal by defendant from an order entered 19 July 1999 by Judge Susan E. Bray in Guilford County District Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 13 September 2000.
Lisa Shealy ("defendant") appeals the trial court's denial of her motion to dismiss Christine Stalas Cooper's ("plaintiff's") claim under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1A-1, Rule 12(b)(2) (1999) for lack of personal jurisdiction. Defendant contends that the trial court inappropriately denied her motion because the allegations in plaintiff's complaint neither satisfy the requirements of the North Carolina long-arm statute nor do they establish the necessary minimum contacts between defendant and North Carolina sufficient to meet due process requirements. We disagree. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's order.
Generally, the denial of a motion to dismiss is not immediately appealable. However, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-277(b) (1999) provides a movant the right of immediate appeal where there has been "an adverse ruling as to the jurisdiction of the court over the person or property of the defendant . . . ." Id. See also Godwin v. Walls, 118 N.C. App. 341, 455 S.E.2d 473, petition for disc. review granted but subsequently withdrawn, 341 N.C. 419, 461 S.E.2d 757 (1995). Therefore, we consider defendant's assignments of error.
On 23 November 1998, plaintiff, a resident of Guilford County, North Carolina, filed a complaint against defendant, a resident of Lexington, South Carolina. Plaintiff's complaint alleged that defendant engaged in criminal conversation with plaintiff's husband, which resulted in the alienation of the affections of her husband. Plaintiff also alleged that defendant intentionally caused her severe emotional distress. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(2) for lack of personal jurisdiction, and also pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. In its order, the trial court found that defendant had wrongfully contacted "Plaintiff and Plaintiff's husband by telephone, which contacts include both telephone conversations and telephone transmitted e-mail to Plaintiff's home." In determining whether the court had personal jurisdiction to hear the claim under the North Carolina long-arm statute N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-75.4(4), the trial court further found that:
Such contacts were solicitations within the meaning of the statute carried on within this State for the affections of Plaintiff's husband . . . [and made] with the intent of harming the Plaintiff and the Plaintiff's marriage. Further[,] such solicitations and activities in and of themselves harmed the Plaintiff and Plaintiff's marriage.
Thus, the trial court concluded that it had jurisdiction over defendant pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-75.4(4), and that plaintiff's complaint did state claims upon which relief could be granted. Accordingly, defendant's motions to dismiss were denied.
As to the merits of defendant's appeal, " he standard of review of an order determining personal jurisdiction is whether the findings of fact by the trial court are supported by competent evidence in the record; if so, this Court must affirm the order of the trial court." Replacements, Ltd. v. MidweSterling, 133 N.C. App. 139, 140-41, 515 S.E.2d 46, 48 (1999). "The determination of whether jurisdiction is statutorily and constitutionally permissible due to contact with the forum is a question of fact." Hiwassee Stables, Inc. v. Cunningham, 135 N.C. App. 24, 27, 519 S.E.2d 317, 320 (1999). To resolve a question of personal jurisdiction, the court must engage in a two step analysis. First, the court must determine if the North Carolina long-arm statute's (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-75.4) requ
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