Opinion
No. COA20-782
10-19-2021
Tammy LOWREY, Plaintiff, v. CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL, INC., Manojkumar (aka "Manoj") Mohanlal Gandhi, Mona Gandhi, MM Shivah, LLC, MM Vaibhavlaxmi, LLC ; CI Hotels, LLC and WS Hotels, LLC, Defendants.
Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy & Kennedy, LLP, by Harvey L. Kennedy and Harold L. Kennedy, III, The Law Offices of John McCabe, by Ruth Sheehan, and The Francis Law Firm, PLLC, by Charles T. Francis, for Plaintiff-Appellee. Yates, McLamb & Weyher, LLP, by Christopher J. Skinner and Joshua D. Neighbors, for Defendant-Appellant Choice Hotels International, Inc. Brown, Crump, Vanore & Tierney, LLP, by Skylar J. Gallagher and O. Craig Tierney, Jr., and Daughtry Woodard Lawrence & Starling, LLP, by N. Leo Daughtry and Luther D. Starling, Jr., for Defendants-Appellants Manojkumar Mohanlal Gandhi, Mona Gandhi, MM Shivah, LLC, MM Vaibhavlaxmi, LLC; CI Hotels LLC, and WS Hotels LLC.
Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy & Kennedy, LLP, by Harvey L. Kennedy and Harold L. Kennedy, III, The Law Offices of John McCabe, by Ruth Sheehan, and The Francis Law Firm, PLLC, by Charles T. Francis, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Yates, McLamb & Weyher, LLP, by Christopher J. Skinner and Joshua D. Neighbors, for Defendant-Appellant Choice Hotels International, Inc.
Brown, Crump, Vanore & Tierney, LLP, by Skylar J. Gallagher and O. Craig Tierney, Jr., and Daughtry Woodard Lawrence & Starling, LLP, by N. Leo Daughtry and Luther D. Starling, Jr., for Defendants-Appellants Manojkumar Mohanlal Gandhi, Mona Gandhi, MM Shivah, LLC, MM Vaibhavlaxmi, LLC; CI Hotels LLC, and WS Hotels LLC.
INMAN, Judge.
¶ 1 This appeal was consolidated for hearing with Lowrey v. Choice Hotels Int'l, Inc. , 2021-NCCOA-436, COA20-662 (2021) (unpublished) and Lowrey v. Choice Hotels Int'l, Inc. , 2021-NCCOA-437, COA20-649 (2021) (unpublished). In Lowrey , 2021-NCCOA-436, COA20-662, we vacated the trial court's 12 December 2019 order to the extent that it concluded Durham County to be a proper venue as a matter of law because Defendant-Appellant Choice Hotels International, Inc. lacked adequate notice that the issue was being heard. 2021-NCCOA-436, ¶ 34.
¶ 2 Because these appeals concern the same issues, parties, and counsel, we vacate the order appealed from as set forth in Lowrey , 2021-NCCOA-436, COA20-662, and remand the matter for further proceedings consistent with that opinion so that the trial court may, on adequate notice of a pending motion, consider anew whether Durham County is a proper venue as a matter of law under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-83(1) (2019).
VACATED AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS
Report per Rule 30(e).
Judges GORE and GRIFFIN concur.