Court Opinion

ID: 9573156
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:48:42.240932+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:37:37.000528
License: Public Domain

*298Judge Greene
concurring.
The discharge of an at-will employee is wrongful if the reason for the termination contravenes public policy. E.g. Coman v. Thomas Mfg. Co., 325 N.C. 172, 175, 381 S.E.2d 445, 447 (1989). The plaintiff argues that his discharge was based on his refusal to remove a Confederate naval flag decal from his toolbox he used at work and that because the display of the decal was an exercise of his First Amendment rights, his discharge is wrongful because any action by his employer limiting his First Amendment rights contravenes public policy. There is no question that if the display of the decal at the plaintiff’s place of employment was an exercise of his First Amendment rights, any discharge based on the display of that decal would be violative of the public policy of this State and support an action for wrongful discharge. See Lenzer v. Flaherty, 106 N.C. App. 496, 515, 418 S.E.2d 276, 287 (1992). In this case, however, the plaintiff’s First Amendment rights are not implicated because the United States Constitution (Constitution) does not secure rights to individuals against other individuals. Pub. Util. Comm’n v. Pollak, 343 U.S. 451, 461, 96 L. Ed. 1068, 1077 (1952). It is only the officials of the State “that are obligated to conduct themselves in accordance with the Constitution.” Thus because there is no evidence in this record that the employer was acting for or on behalf of the State, the First Amendment rights of the plaintiff were not implicated when he was discharged for displaying the decal. It follows that there has been no violation of the public policy of this State and the trial court correctly dismissed the wrongful discharge claim.