McCallum v. North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service of N.C.2/6/2001
ployer may discharge an "at- will" employee for any reason, including those which are arbitrary, irrational, or illogical, without incurring liability. Woods v. City of Wilmington, 125 N.C. App. 226, 229, 480 S.E.2d 429, 432 (1997). An at- will employee has no protected property right in his employment, unless such right is created by statute, ordinance or contract. Evans v. Cowan, 132 N.C. App. 1, 6-7, 510 S.E.2d 170, 174; Peace v. Employment Sec. Comm'n, 349 N.C. 315, 321, 507 S.E.2d 272, 277 (1998). A property interest may also be created if there are "'mutually explicit understandings that support claim of entitlement . . . .'" Woods, 125 N.C. App. at 232-33, 480 S.E.2d at 433 (quoting Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 601, 33 L. Ed. 2d 570, 580 (1972)). Once a property interest in employment is established, it is protected by Article I, Section 19 of the North Carolina Constitution, which states that " o person shall be . . . in any manner deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by the law of the land." N.C. Const. art. I, § 19; Woods, 125 N.C. App. at 230, 480 S.E.2d at 432.
The State Personnel Act provides one means by which public employees may gain a protected right in employment. Section 126-35 of that Act provides that " o career State employee subject to the State Personnel Act shall be discharged, suspended, or demoted for disciplinary reasons, except for just cause." N.C. Gen. Stat. § 126-35(a) (1999). Section 126-5, however, specifically exempts from the protection of the State Personnel Act all " nstructional . . . staff . . . of The University of North Carolina." N.C. Gen. Stat. § 126-5(c1)(8) (1999).
Plaintiff was employed as an Agricultural Extension Agent with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service when he was discharged. The Smith-Lever Act created cooperative extension services " n order to aid in diffusing among the people of the United States useful and practical information on subjects relating to agriculture, home economics, and rural energy, and to encourage the application of the same." Smith-Lever Act, 7 U.S.C. § 341 (1994). Cooperative agricultural extension work "consist of the development of practical applications of research knowledge and giving of instruction . . . in agriculture." Id. at § 342. Thus, NCCES was established "for the specific purpose of extending the educational service of the University to the people of the state . . . ."
Extension agents are "professional member of the faculty of North Carolina State University or North Carolina A&T;State University," both of which are part of The University of North Carolina. One of an agent's main functions is to " evelop and maintain a comprehensive understanding of the role of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service as an educational agency." According to the Associate Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University, who also serves as Director of NCCES, extension agents are "EPA" positions. "EPA" is an abbreviation designating those employees who are exempt from the State Personnel Act. We find that, as an Agricultural Extension Agent, plaintiff was part of the instructional staff of the UNC system and therefore exempt from the State Personnel Act. Plaintiff cannot establish a property right through the State Personnel Act.
Plaintiff contends that, even if he is not subject to the State Personnel Act, there remain genuine issues of material fact that support plaintiff's claim of a property interest based on "mutually explicit understandings" of continued employment between plaintiff and defendants. To support his claim, plaintiff points out that defendants' letter of July 1993 appointing him to the County E
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