Opinion
No. 139PA23
02-02-2024
Robert BREWER, Employee v. RENT-A-CENTER, Employer, Travelers Insurance Co. (Sedgwick Claims Services, Third-Party Administrator), Carrier
M. Duane Jones, Attorney at Law, Charlotte, For Rent-A-Center, et al. Linda H. Stephens, Attorney at Law, Raleigh, For Rent-A-Center, et al. Kristin P. Henriksen, Attorney at Law, For Robert Brewer. Neil P. Andrews, Attorney at Law, Charlotte, For Rent-A-Center, et al. Brennan C. Cumalander, Attorney at Law, Wilmington, For Rent-A-Center, et al.
From N.C. Court of Appeals 22-296; From N.C. Industrial Commission W94420, Tenth District
M. Duane Jones, Attorney at Law, Charlotte, For Rent-A-Center, et al.
Linda H. Stephens, Attorney at Law, Raleigh, For Rent-A-Center, et al.
Kristin P. Henriksen, Attorney at Law, For Robert Brewer.
Neil P. Andrews, Attorney at Law, Charlotte, For Rent-A-Center, et al.
Brennan C. Cumalander, Attorney at Law, Wilmington, For Rent-A-Center, et al.
ORDER
Plaintiff’s consent motion to dismiss appeal is allowed. The decision of the Court of Appeals in Brewer v. Rent-A-Ctr., 288 N.C. App, 491, 887 S.E.2d 417 (2023) is vacated. See State ex rel. Utilities Comm’n v. S. Bell Tel. & Tel. Co., 289 N.C. 286, 289, 221 S.E.2d 322, 324–25 (1976) (vacating a decision of the Court of Appeals because the case became moot while on appeal) ("When a case becomes moot while on appeal, the usual disposition is simply to dismiss the appeal. This procedure, however, leaves the decision of the Court of Appeals undisturbed as a precedent when, but for intervening mootness, it might not have remained so. While we express no opinion as to its correctness, the better practice in this circumstance is to vacate the decision of the Court of Appeals." (internal citation omitted) (emphasis added)).
By order of the Court in Conference, this the 1st day of February 2024. Justices Earls and Riggs concur in the dismissal of the appeal, but dissent with respect to vacatur for the reasons explained in Justices Earls and Morgan’s dissents in Walker v. Wake Cnty. Sheriff’s Dep’t, 385 N.C. 300, 303–09, 890 S.E.2d 905 (2023).