McCallum v. North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service of N.C.2/6/2001
9, 380 (1998). As a state agency, NCCES is shielded by sovereign immunity from suits based on torts committed while performing a governmental function. Therefore, to the extent defendants' appeal is based on an affirmative defense of immunity, this appeal is properly before us.
Further, our Supreme Court has ruled that the denial of a motion for summary judgment based on the defense of res judicata (or claim preclusion) is immediately appealable. Bockweg v. Anderson, 333 N.C. 486, 491, 428 S.E.2d 157, 161 (1993). Under the doctrine of res judicata, a final judgment on the merits in a prior action precludes a second suit involving the same claim between the same parties. Thomas M. McInnis & Assoc., Inc. v. Hall, 318 N.C. 421, 428, 349 S.E.2d 552, 556 (1986). Denial of a summary judgment motion based on res judicata raises the possibility that a successful defendant will twice have to defend against the same claim by the same plaintiff, in frustration of the underlying principles of claim preclusion. Bockweg, 333 N.C. at 491, 428 S.E.2d at 161. Thus, the denial of summary judgment based on the defense of res judicata can affect a substantial right and may be immediately appealed. Id.
Like res judicata, collateral estoppel (issue preclusion) is "'designed to prevent repetitious lawsuits over matters which have once been decided and which have remained substantially static, factually and legally.'" King v. Grindstaff, 284 N.C. 348, 356, 200 S.E.2d 799, 805 (1973) (quoting Commissioner v. Sunnen, 333 U.S. 591, 599, 92 L. Ed. 898, 907 (1948)). Under collateral estoppel, parties are precluded from retrying fully litigated issues that were decided in any prior determination, even where the claims asserted are not the same. McInnis, 318 N.C. at 428, 349 S.E.2d at 557. The denial of summary judgment based on collateral estoppel, like res judicata, may expose a successful defendant to repetitious and unnecessary lawsuits. Accordingly, we hold that the denial of a motion for summary judgment based on the defense of collateral estoppel may affect a substantial right, and that defendants' appeal, although interlocutory, is properly before us.
Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, and a party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. N.C. Gen. Stat. ยง 1A-1, Rule 56(c) (1999). Defendants assert, on two separate grounds, that they are entitled to such judgment. Defendants first contend that issues dispositive of plaintiff's claims of racial discrimination, equal protection violations and retaliatory discharge have already been litigated to final judgment by the federal court, and that collateral estoppel bars re-litigation of these issues. Second, they argue that plaintiff was an at-will employee with no property right in his employment. We will consider each argument separately.
I. Collateral Estoppel
Under the doctrine of collateral estoppel, when an issue has been fully litigated and decided, it cannot be contested again between the same parties, even if the first adjudication is conducted in federal court and the second in state court. King, 284 N.C. at 359, 200 S.E.2d at 807. Plaintiff argues, however, that collateral estoppel cannot bar a state constitutional claim based on a denial of equal protection or due process, regardless of previous federal court adjudications, because only North Carolina courts can "'[answer] with finality'" "' hether rights guaranteed by the Constitution of North Carolina have been provided . . . .'" Evans v. Cowan, 122 N.C. App. 181, 184, 468 S.E.2d 575, 577, disc. review denied, appeal retained, 343 N.C. 510, 471 S.E.2d 634, affirmed, 345 N.C. 177, 477 S.E.2d 926 (1996) (quoting Sta
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