Opinion
No. COA05-873
Filed 21 March 2006 This case not for publication
Appeal by defendant Moore from order entered 6 April 2005 by Judge Peter Roda in the District Court in Buncombe County. Heard in the Court of Appeals 9 February 2005.
Carol B. Andres, for plaintiff-appellee. William E. Loose, for defendant-appellant Moore.
Buncombe County No. 04 CVD 3814.
Plaintiff filed a complaint against defendants seeking to recover damages for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion and respondeat superior. He alleged that defendant Moore, who was formerly married to plaintiff, had forged plaintiff's name on various checks for her own benefit during the marriage. In March 2005, defendant Moore filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that plaintiff's suit was barred by res judicata, as plaintiff had previously brought another suit involving the same money. The court denied defendant's motion for summary judgment on 6 April 2005. Defendant appeals. We dismiss the appeal.
Defendant appeals pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. 7A-27(c) (2005), which grants an appeal of right from "any final judgment of a district court in a civil action." Id. However, an order denying summary judgment is not a final judgment, but rather, "is interlocutory, does not affect a substantial right, and is not immediately appealable." See Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 122 N.C. App. 449, 456, 470 S.E.2d 556, 560 (1996). Accordingly, we dismiss defendant's appeal.
Dismissed.
Judges TYSON and GEER concur.
Report per Rule 30(e).