{
  "id": 2531975,
  "name": "DOROTHY M. FAULKENBURY, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated v. TEACHERS' AND STATE EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF NORTH CAROLINA, a corporation; BOARD OF TRUSTEES TEACHERS' AND STATE EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF NORTH CAROLINA, a body politic and corporate; DENNIS DUCKER, Director of the Retirement System Division and Deputy Treasurer of the State of North Carolina (in his individual and official capacities); HARLAN E. BOYLES, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System of North Carolina (in his individual and official capacities); and STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA",
  "name_abbreviation": "Faulkenbury v. Teachers' & State Employees' Retirement System",
  "decision_date": "1993-11-05",
  "docket_number": "No. 94A93",
  "first_page": "158",
  "last_page": "160",
  "citations": [
    {
      "type": "official",
      "cite": "335 N.C. 158"
    }
  ],
  "court": {
    "name_abbreviation": "N.C.",
    "id": 9292,
    "name": "Supreme Court of North Carolina"
  },
  "jurisdiction": {
    "id": 5,
    "name_long": "North Carolina",
    "name": "N.C."
  },
  "cites_to": [
    {
      "cite": "424 S.E.2d 420",
      "category": "reporters:state_regional",
      "reporter": "S.E.2d",
      "year": 1993,
      "opinion_index": -1
    },
    {
      "cite": "108 N.C. App. 357",
      "category": "reporters:state",
      "reporter": "N.C. App.",
      "case_ids": [
        8524345
      ],
      "year": 1993,
      "opinion_index": -1,
      "case_paths": [
        "/nc-app/108/0357-01"
      ]
    },
    {
      "cite": "42 U.S.C. \u00a7 1983",
      "category": "laws:leg_statute",
      "reporter": "U.S.C.",
      "weight": 2,
      "opinion_index": 0
    }
  ],
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    "simhash": "1:29d196e7942747e2",
    "word_count": 848
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  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T21:54:49.870550+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
  },
  "casebody": {
    "judges": [],
    "parties": [
      "DOROTHY M. FAULKENBURY, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated v. TEACHERS\u2019 AND STATE EMPLOYEES\u2019 RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF NORTH CAROLINA, a corporation; BOARD OF TRUSTEES TEACHERS\u2019 AND STATE EMPLOYEES\u2019 RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF NORTH CAROLINA, a body politic and corporate; DENNIS DUCKER, Director of the Retirement System Division and Deputy Treasurer of the State of North Carolina (in his individual and official capacities); HARLAN E. BOYLES, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Teachers\u2019 and State Employees\u2019 Retirement System of North Carolina (in his individual and official capacities); and STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA"
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "PER CURIAM.\nThis is an action filed 5 November 1990 for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief in which plaintiff alleges various claims which she contends entitle her and all similarly situated to her to the relief sought. Plaintiff alleges that she is a disability retired school teacher who retired in 1983 and whose rights to certain disability retirement benefits of the Teachers and State Employees\u2019 Retirement System became vested in 1968. She contends that certain statutory changes, which took effect in 1982, to the method by which disability retirement benefits are calculated have caused defendants to underpay her benefits and the benefits of all who are similarly situated. In plaintiff\u2019s prayer for relief she seeks (1) to have her action certified as a class action; (2) a declaration that the 1982 amendments may not be constitutionally applied to her and the class of which she is a member; (3) a declaration that she and the class have a vested contractual right to have benefits calculated under the statute as it existed before the amendment; (4) an injunction requiring defendants to pay to the class \u201call funds\u201d to which plaintiff and the class are entitled and to comply with their fiduciary duties \u201cto inform all class members of their vested right to receive disability pension benefits\u201d in accordance with the statute as it existed before the amendment; and (5) recovery of costs and attorneys fees.\nThe complaint asserts claims sounding in (1) violation of various provisions of the United States Constitution and 42 U.S.C. \u00a7 1983; (2) violation of various provisions of the North Carolina Constitution and Chapter 128 of the General Statutes; (3) breach of fiduciary duty; and (4) constructive or resulting trust.\nDefendants answered, setting up various immunity defenses, and the defenses of the statute of limitations, laches, failure to exhaust administrative remedies, and lack of personal and subject matter jurisdiction. Defendants\u2019 answer sought to have the action dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and on the basis of the defenses asserted.\nThe trial court denied defendants\u2019 motions to dismiss and allowed plaintiff\u2019s motion for class certification as to certain sub-classes but denied it as to a sub-class relating to future disability retirees. Plaintiff took voluntary dismissals without prejudice as to defendants Ducker and Boyles individually.\nDefendants appealed, assigning error to the trial court\u2019s denial of its motions to dismiss and to its allowance of class certification.\nThe Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the trial court\u2019s rulings on class certification and its denial of defendants\u2019 motion to dismiss plaintiff\u2019s claims based on the constitutional prohibition against impairment of contracts. The Court of Appeals unanimously reversed, on the ground the statute of limitations had run, the trial court\u2019s denial of defendants\u2019 motion to dismiss plaintiff\u2019s 42 U.S.C. \u00a7 1983 claim. A majority of the Court of Appeals reversed, on the ground plaintiff had failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, the trial court\u2019s denial of the motion to dismiss plaintiff\u2019s breach of fiduciary duty claim. Judge Walker dissented only from this part of the decision.\nPlaintiff appealed to us on the basis of Judge Walker\u2019s dissent and on the basis of her contention that other issues determined by the Court of Appeals raised substantial constitutional questions. Plaintiff also petitioned for discretionary review of additional issues determined by the Court of Appeals. We denied plaintiff\u2019s petition for discretionary review and allowed defendants\u2019 motion to dismiss plaintiff\u2019s appeal insofar as the appeal was based on what plaintiff contended were substantial constitutional questions.\nThe only question before us, therefore, is whether the Court of Appeals properly reversed the trial court\u2019s denial of defendants\u2019 motion to dismiss plaintiff\u2019s breach of fiduciary duty claim for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. We conclude that this decision should be affirmed.\nAFFIRMED.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "PER CURIAM."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Marvin Schiller, and Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, by G. Eugene Boyce and Susan S. McFarlane, for plaintiff-appellant.",
      "Michael F. Easley, Attorney General, by Edwin M. Speas, Jr., Senior Deputy Attorney General, and Norma S. Harrell and Tiare B. Smiley, Special Deputy Attorneys General, for defendant-appellees."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "DOROTHY M. FAULKENBURY, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated v. TEACHERS\u2019 AND STATE EMPLOYEES\u2019 RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF NORTH CAROLINA, a corporation; BOARD OF TRUSTEES TEACHERS\u2019 AND STATE EMPLOYEES\u2019 RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF NORTH CAROLINA, a body politic and corporate; DENNIS DUCKER, Director of the Retirement System Division and Deputy Treasurer of the State of North Carolina (in his individual and official capacities); HARLAN E. BOYLES, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Teachers\u2019 and State Employees\u2019 Retirement System of North Carolina (in his individual and official capacities); and STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA\nNo. 94A93\n(Filed 5 November 1993)\nAppeal by plaintiff, pursuant to N.C.G.S. \u00a7 7A-30(2), from the decision of a divided panel of. the Court of Appeals, 108 N.C. App. 357, 424 S.E.2d 420 (1993), reversing in part orders entered by Cashwell, J., on 28 June 1991 in Superior Court, Wake County. Heard in the Supreme Court on 15 October 1993.\nMarvin Schiller, and Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, by G. Eugene Boyce and Susan S. McFarlane, for plaintiff-appellant.\nMichael F. Easley, Attorney General, by Edwin M. Speas, Jr., Senior Deputy Attorney General, and Norma S. Harrell and Tiare B. Smiley, Special Deputy Attorneys General, for defendant-appellees."
  },
  "file_name": "0158-01",
  "first_page_order": 192,
  "last_page_order": 194
}