IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA No. 110A17 Filed 22 December 2017 STEVEN HARRIS, Petitioner v. NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, Respondent

Appeal pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-30(2) from the decision of a divided panel of the Court of Appeals, ___ N.C. App. ___, 798 S.E.2d 127 (2017), affirming a final decision dated 25 January 2016 issued by Administrative Law Judge Donald W.

Overby in the Office of Administrative Hearings. Heard in the Supreme Court on 13 December 2017.

Law Offices of Michael C. Byrne, by Michael C. Byrne, for petitioner-appellee.

Joshua H. Stein, Attorney General, by Tamika L. Henderson, Assistant Attorney General, and Ryan Park, Deputy Solicitor General, for respondent- appellant.

Essex Richards, P.A., by Norris A. Adams, II, for North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police, and Blanchard, Miller, Lewis & Isley, P.A., by E. Hardy Lewis, for North Carolina State Employees Association, amici curiae.

The McGuinness Law Firm, by J. Michael McGuinness, and Milliken Law, by Megan A. Milliken, for North Carolina Police Benevolent Association and Southern States Police Benevolent Association, amici curiae.

PER CURIAM.

AFFIRMED.