Court Opinion

ID: 9945472
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-27 21:01:05.732325+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:25:30.261759
License: Public Domain

USCA4 Appeal: 23-1193      Doc: 25         Filed: 02/26/2024    Pg: 1 of 3

                                            UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                              No. 23-1193

        HEATHER BYAM,

                            Plaintiff - Appellant,

                     v.

        OCEAN ENTERPRISE 589, LLC, d/b/a Ocean Downs Casino,

                            Defendant - Appellee.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.
        Richard D. Bennett, Senior District Judge. (1:22-cv-01617-RDB)

        Submitted: February 22, 2024                                 Decided: February 26, 2024

        Before NIEMEYER and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges, and KEENAN, Senior Circuit Judge.

        Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        ON BRIEF: Robin R. Cockey, Ashley A. Bosché, COCKEY, BRENNAN &
        MALONEY, PC, Salisbury, Maryland, for Appellant. Robert L. Ferguson, Jr., James K.
        Howard, FERGUSON, SCHETELICH & BALLEW, P.A., Baltimore, Maryland, for
        Appellee.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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        PER CURIAM:

               Heather Byam appeals the district court’s order granting Defendant’s motion to

        dismiss her state law claim of wrongful interference with economic relations. * We review

        the grant of a defendant’s motion to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) de novo,

        drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff. Williams v. Kincaid, 45 F.4th

        759, 765 (4th Cir. 2022). “To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain

        sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its

        face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (internal quotation marks omitted).

        While the court must accept well-pleaded allegations as true and draw all reasonable

        inferences in the plaintiff’s favor, it is not required to accept as true allegations that are

        merely conclusory, unwarranted deductions of fact, or unreasonable inferences. Martin v.

        Duffy, 858 F.3d 239, 248 (4th Cir. 2017).

               We agree with the district court that Byam failed to plead any facts to support her

        claim that the Defendant’s employee intended to interfere with Byam’s employment

        contract with her employer and that the alleged interfering act was wrongful or unlawful.

        See Ronald M. Sharrow, Chartered v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 511 A.2d 492, 498

        (Md. App. Ct. 1986) (noting that plaintiff must prove that “interference was wrongful and

        without justification”). We have reviewed the parties’ briefs and relevant materials and

               *
                The district court also dismissed Byam’s invasion of privacy and wrongful
        publication of private information claims; however, she does not pursue these claims on
        appeal. Thus, Byam has forfeited appellate review of these two claims. See Jackson v.
        Lightsey, 775 F.3d 170, 177 (4th Cir. 2014).

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        find no reversible error. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order. Byam v. Ocean

        Enter. 589, LLC, No. 1:22-cv-01617-RDB (D. Md. Feb. 1, 2023). We dispense with oral

        argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials

        before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

                                                                                     AFFIRMED

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