Hudson v. Hudson

Court of Appeals of North Carolina
Hudson v. Hudson, 237 S.E.2d 479 (1977)
34 N.C. App. 144; 1977 N.C. App. LEXIS 1599
Hedrick, Vaughn, Clark

Hudson v. Hudson

Opinion

HEDRICK, Judge.

It is a general rule that orders regarding matters of discovery are within the discretion of the trial court and will not be upset on appeal absent a showing of abuse of discretion. Stanback v. Stanback, 287 N.C. 448, 215 S.E. 2d 30 (1975); Harrington Mfg. Co., Inc. v. Powell Mfg. Co., 26 N.C. App. 414, 216 S.E. 2d 379, cert. denied, 288 N.C. 242, 217 S.E. 2d 679 (1975); Fireman’s Mut. Ins. Co. v. High *146 Point Sprinkler Co., 266 N.C. 134, 146 S.E. 2d 53 (1966). Justice Lake, speaking for the Supreme Court in Tennessee-Carolina Transportation, Inc. v. Strick Corp., 291 N.C. 618, 626-7, 231 S.E. 2d 597, 602 (1977) on rehearing from 289 N.C. 587, 223 S.E. 2d 346 (1976), wrote:

“The authority of the trial judge to issue ... [a] protective order [under Rule 26(c)] is not unqualified. The statute provides that such order may be issued only ‘for good cause shown’ and that it may be issued only ‘to protect a party or person from unreasonable annoyance, embarrassment, oppression or undue burden or expense.’ ”

In the present case Judge Gantt recited that “. . . good cause has been shown and the interests of justice require that protection be afforded Collier Cobb & Associates, Inc.” Unlike Tennessee-Carolina Transportation, Inc., where Justice Lake found that there was “[n]o . . . basis [of good cause] for the order prohibiting . . . [discovery] shown in the record,” the record before us demonstrates an adequate basis for the judge’s order limiting discovery. Furthermore, we agree with the trial court’s conclusion that the judgment of voluntary dismissal with prejudice of the prior action in Moore County involving the same parties “... foreclosed and estopped [the parties] from litigating all issuable matters contained in the pleadings of the Moore County action ...” Young v. Young, 21 N.C. App. 424, 204 S.E. 2d 711 (1974). The plaintiff has failed to show any abuse of discretion in the order dated 17 September 1976.

Affirmed.

Judges Vaughn and Clark concur.

Reference

Full Case Name
Meriwether W. Hudson v. Fitzgerald S. Hudson
Cited By
27 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
Rules of Civil Procedure 26 — discovery of corporation's records — limitation proper In an action to obtain alimony where plaintiff sought discovery of certain records relating to defendant's financial condition and business affairs as chairman of the board of directors of a named corporation, the trial judge properly determined that good cause had been shown and justice required that discovery of the corporation's records be limited; moreover, the trial court properly determined that a prior action between the parties in another county was res judicata and precluded plaintiff from discovery of matters within the scope of the pleadings of the prior action.