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Mercier v. Daniels8/15/2000
Appeal by plaintiff from judgment entered 17 May 1999 by Judge Shelly S. Holt in New Hanover County District Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 18 May 2000.
Plaintiff William J. Mercier, Sr. appeals from the trial court's "Revised and Final Order and Judgment" granting summary judgment in favor of defendant U-Haul Company of North Carolina (U-Haul) on 17 May 1999. We affirm.
William and Nancy Mercier were married in 1969, separated in 1992, reconciled in 1994 and lived together continuously from 1994 until 29 December 1997. Mr. and Mrs. Mercier jointly operated Auto Specialists, a used car dealership in Wilmington, North Carolina. Mr. Mercier purchased, repaired and sold cars, while Mrs. Mercier performed office duties and paperwork. In the spring of 1997, the Merciers sought to supplement income from car sales by acquiring a U-Haul dealership.
At that time, defendant Gilbert Daniels was employed with defendant U-Haul as an area field manager. He was responsible for supervising thirty U-Haul dealerships in southeastern North Carolina. His duties included helping prospective U-Haul dealers complete applications, teaching new dealers about U-Haul procedures and paperwork, assisting dealers with business operations and moving U-Haul equipment between dealerships. Daniels first met Mr. and Mrs. Mercier when they applied for a dealership in 1997. In time, Daniels' business relationship with the Merciers developed into friendship.
After an argument between the Merciers on 29 December 1997, Mrs. Mercier left the marital home and went to her daughter's house. She called Daniels and asked if she could stay in his home temporarily. After briefly returning to the marital home in early January 1998, Mrs. Mercier moved in with Daniels permanently.
On 20 April 1998, Mr. Mercier commenced this civil action against Daniels for alienation of affection and criminal conversation. The complaint alleged that U-Haul was vicariously liable for alienation of affection caused by Daniels.
U-Haul and Daniels generally denied Mr. Mercier's allegations of misconduct in their respective answers. On 30 April 1999, U-Haul filed a motion for summary judgment supported by the affidavits of Mrs. Mercier and James Frawley, U-Haul's vice president. In reply, Mr. Mercier submitted a response to the motion for summary judgment and a counteraffidavit. On 17 May 1999, after considering the pleadings, affidavits and depositions, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of U-Haul. Plaintiff appeals.
According to appellee U-Haul's brief, after the trial court granted summary judgment, the case was tried before a jury. Following their verdict, the trial court entered judgment against Daniels on 21 May 1999, and no appeal from the judgment against Daniels has been brought forward.
Before considering appellant's assignments of error, we note that normally "it is not a part of the function of the court on a motion for summary judgment to make findings of fact and conclusions of law." Capps v. City of Raleigh, 35 N.C. App. 290, 292, 241 S.E.2d 527, 528 (1978). Although "in rare situations it can be helpful to set out the undisputed facts which form the basis for judgment," id. at 292, 241 S.E.2d at 529, "the enumeration of findings of fact . . . is technically unnecessary and generally inadvisable in summary judgment cases," Ellis v. Williams, 319 N.C. 413, 415, 355 S.E.2d 479, 481 (1987). In the instant case, we believe it was unnecessary for the trial court to make the detailed findings and conclusions in its judgment.
In this case, the court's order granting summary judgment contained the following statements:
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