GRIFFIN v. ABSOLUTE FIRE CONTROL INC (2021)

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

Stacy GRIFFIN, Employee v. ABSOLUTE FIRE CONTROL, INC., Employer, and Everest National Ins. Co. & Gallagher Bassett Servs., Carrier

No. 29A20

Decided: March 12, 2021

Sellers, Ayers, Dortch & Lyons, PA, Charlotte, by Christian R. Ayers and John F. Ayers III, for plaintiff-appellee. Brotherton Ford Berry & Weaver, PLLC, by Demetrius Worley, for defendant-appellants. Poisson, Poisson & Bower, PLLC, by E. Stewart Poisson, Wilmington; and Erwin Byrd, for North Carolina Advocates for Justice, amicus curiae. Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo LLP, by M. Duane Jones, Charlotte, and Linda Stephens, Raleigh; and Teague Campbell Dennis & Gorham, LLP, Raleigh, by Bruce Hamilton, for North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys, North Carolina Association of Self-Insurers, North Carolina Chamber Legal Institute, North Carolina Retail Merchants Association, North Carolina Home Builders Association, North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association, North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association, National Federation of Independent Business, Employers Coalition of North Carolina, North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation, American Property Casualty Insurance Association Insurance Federation of North Carolina, and National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, amici curiae.