Court dismisses claims from suit of former UNC–W employee removed for unacceptable personal conduct

Edwin Jolly worked in information technology for the University of North Carolina at Wilmington for approximately twenty-two years before he was dismissed for unacceptable personal conduct. He alleged that his dismissal was the result of race, religion, and age discrimination and also that it violated his rights to due process, equal protection, and free speech. This digest concerns UNC–W’s motion to dismiss Jolly’s Section 1983 claims (that is, his due process, equal protection, and free speech claims) as well as his tort-law claims based on state law.

The federal court for the Eastern District of North Carolina granted UNC–W’s motion. As to the Section 1983 claims, the court held that UNC–W was immune from these damage claims under the Eleventh Amendment. The court found that UNC–W was also immune from Jolly’s state-law tort claims of defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. North Carolina has not waived immunity for intentional torts.