Stone v. North Carolina Department Of Labor

495 S.E.2d 711 (N.C. 1998)

Facts

On 3 September 1991, a fire started in a hydraulic line near a deep fat fryer in the Imperial Foods Products chicken plant in Hamlet, North Carolina. Ps are either former employees of Imperial Foods who suffered injury in the fire or personal representatives of the estates of employees who died in the fire. Ps could not easily escape the plant or the fire because the exits in the plant were unmarked, blocked, and inaccessible. After the fire, D conducted their first and only inspection in the plant's eleven-year history of operation. Ds discovered numerous violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of North Carolina (OSHANC), including the plant's inadequate and blocked exits and inadequate fire suppression system. Ds issued eighty-three citations against Imperial Foods Products for violations of OSHANC standards. Ps sued D pursuant to Tort Claims Act, N.C.G.S. §§ 143-291 to -300.1 (1996). Ps sought damages for injuries or deaths resulting from a fire at the Imperial Foods Products. D moved, pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 1A-1, Rules 12(b)(1), (2), and (6), to dismiss Ps' claims. Deputy Commissioner D. Bernard Alston denied the motions. The full Commission affirmed and adopted his decision. The Court of Appeals affirmed. It held that N.C.G.S. § 95-4, which describes the authority, power, and duties of the Commissioner of Labor, imposed a duty upon Ds to inspect the workplaces of North Carolina and that the breach of this duty gave rise to Ps' action for negligence. It further held that the public duty doctrine did not apply to actions brought against the State under the Tort Claims Act. This appeal resulted.