A three-judge panel of the N.C. Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed a trial court’s ruling against former UNC athletes in a suit against the school. Football player James Arnold (class of 2006) and basketball player Leah Metcalf (class of 2009) contended that their enrollment in “sham courses” in African and Afro-American Studies had harmed their post-college career options.
Writing for the panel, Judge Wanda Bryant notes:
Where plaintiffs’ claims fail to demonstrate a particularized actual injury and are not based on a legally protected interest as required by North Carolina law, plaintiffs cannot establish standing, and the trial court did not err in granting defendant’s motion to dismiss.
Bryant also concludes that the dismissal based on lack of legal standing means that the Appeals Court does not need to address the athletes’ arguments about the “sham courses.”
