Court Opinion

ID: 9584869
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:53:29.531779+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:19:53.848424
License: Public Domain

WYNN, Judge
concurring.
Although I agree with the majority’s resolution of this matter, I separately concur in affirming the State Personnel Commission’s decision for the reason that N.C. Gen. Stat. § 126-36 affords all state employees an appeals process if the employee suffered discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, or handicap.
In Woodburn v. N.C. State Univ., 156 N.C. App. 549, 577 S.E.2d 154 (2003), this Court stated that Chapter 126 of the North Carolina General Statutes does not apply to probationary employees. Since that conclusion went beyond the issue in that case, I agree with the majority that this conclusion was dicta. Indeed, in the face of compelling and clear legislative language, and a prior North Carolina Supreme Court case, N.C. Dep’t of Corr. v. Gibson, 308 N.C. 131, 301 S.E.2d 78 (1983), a prior opinion of this Court may not contravene the precedential value of a constitutionally allowed legislative mandate.
Moreover, I must emphasize that the issue on appeal concerns a matter of discrimination based on religious practices not of constitu*614tionally protected religious freedoms. The petition filed claimed unlawful discrimination pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 126-36. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 126-36 allows the State Personnel Commission to review state employee claims derived from alleged racial, religious, age, sex, national origin, or handicap discrimination. While constitutional issues may be applicable here, none are before this Court today.
Finally, I note that our Supreme Court has previously set out the standard for establishing discrimination pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 126-36. Gibson, 308 N.C. at 136-37, 301 S.E.2d at 82 (citing McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L. Ed. 2d 668 (1973)); see Skinner v. N.C. Dep’t of Corr., 154 N.C. App. 270, 278, 572 S.E.2d 184, 190 (2002). In Gibson, our Supreme Court also set out a four-step test to establish a prima facie case of discrimination.. 308 N.C. at 137, 301 S.E.2d at 82-83. As N.C. Gen. Stat. § 126-36 applies to all forms of discrimination, this standard is applicable here. Upon applying this standard to the issue in this case, I reach the same result as the majority in affirming the State Personnel Commission decision.