USCA4 Appeal: 23-1193 Doc: 25 Filed: 02/26/2024 Pg: 1 of 3

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 23-1193

HEATHER BYAM, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. OCEAN ENTERPRISE 589, LLC, d/b/a Ocean Downs Casino, Defendant - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.

Richard D. Bennett, Senior District Judge. (1:22-cv-01617-RDB)

Submitted: February 22, 2024 Decided: February 26, 2024

Before NIEMEYER and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges, and KEENAN, Senior Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

ON BRIEF: Robin R. Cockey, Ashley A. Bosché, COCKEY, BRENNAN & MALONEY, PC, Salisbury, Maryland, for Appellant. Robert L. Ferguson, Jr., James K.

Howard, FERGUSON, SCHETELICH & BALLEW, P.A., Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM: Heather Byam appeals the district court’s order granting Defendant’s motion to dismiss her state law claim of wrongful interference with economic relations. * We review the grant of a defendant’s motion to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) de novo, drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff. Williams v. Kincaid, 45 F.4th 759, 765 (4th Cir. 2022). “To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (internal quotation marks omitted).

While the court must accept well-pleaded allegations as true and draw all reasonable inferences in the plaintiff’s favor, it is not required to accept as true allegations that are merely conclusory, unwarranted deductions of fact, or unreasonable inferences. Martin v. Duffy, 858 F.3d 239, 248 (4th Cir. 2017).

We agree with the district court that Byam failed to plead any facts to support her claim that the Defendant’s employee intended to interfere with Byam’s employment contract with her employer and that the alleged interfering act was wrongful or unlawful.

See Ronald M. Sharrow, Chartered v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 511 A.2d 492, 498 (Md. App. Ct. 1986) (noting that plaintiff must prove that “interference was wrongful and without justification”). We have reviewed the parties’ briefs and relevant materials and

* The district court also dismissed Byam’s invasion of privacy and wrongful publication of private information claims; however, she does not pursue these claims on appeal. Thus, Byam has forfeited appellate review of these two claims. See Jackson v. Lightsey, 775 F.3d 170, 177 (4th Cir. 2014).

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find no reversible error. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order. Byam v. Ocean Enter. 589, LLC, No. 1:22-cv-01617-RDB (D. Md. Feb. 1, 2023). We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED