Smith v. Ford Motor Company

North Carolina Supreme Court

221 S.E.2d 282 (1976)

Relevant factsFree

After turning around a struggling Ford (defendant) dealership as its manager, Smith (plaintiff) joined the Ford Dealer Alliance, a group protecting dealers' interests against Ford; disapproving of that membership, Ford threatened to terminate its franchise with Cloverdale Ford (defendant) unless Cloverdale fired Smith, and Cloverdale complied, prompting Smith's suit for breach of his at-will employment contract and tortious interference, both dismissed by the trial court.

IssueFree

Whether a defendant is liable for tortious interference if it knowingly, intentionally and unjustifiably induces one party to a contract to breach it to the damage of the other party.

Holding & reasoning

The court resolved the question by applying the controlling rule to the facts and explaining precisely why the outcome followed. Its reasoning ties the doctrine to the record so you can reproduce the analysis on an exam.

Procedural history, concurrence & dissent

This section traces the case from the trial court through appeal and lays out how each opinion lands. Separate writings sharpen the majority's limits and flag the arguments most likely to resurface in class.

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