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Trexler v. Norfolk Southern Railway Company8/7/2001
scharge, reiterating that
reach of contract is the remedy for a wrongfully discharged employee who is employed for a definite term or who is subject to discharge only for just cause. Plaintiff alleges that he was employed pursuant to teaching appointments of definite duration; he was not, therefore, an at-will employee. Id. at 611, 486 S.E.2d at 448.
In the case sub judice, the Agreement explicitly provided that plaintiff might not be "removed from service or disciplined (including discharge) except for just and sufficient cause after a preliminary hearing." As with the plaintiffs in Wagoner and Claggett, therefore, "breach of contract as the proper claim, Wagoner, 113 N.C. App. at 588, 440 S.E.2d at 125, by which plaintiff herein might have challenged termination of his employment in that he was "an employee subject to discharge only for "just cause," id. Accordingly, an essential element of plaintiff's wrongful discharge claim was "nonexistent," Roumillat, 331 N.C. at 63, 414 S.E.2d at 342, and the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of defendants regarding that claim. In light of this holding, we further hold the trial court properly allowed summary judgment as to plaintiff's claim for punitive damages. See Jones v. Gwynne, 312 N.C. 393, 405, 323 S.E.2d 9, 16 (1984)(before punitive damages may be awarded, "jury must find that the defendant committed an actionable legal wrong against the plaintiff").
Affirmed.
Judges Wynn and McGee concur.
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