(a)        Any person who intentionally gains access to the nonpublic areas of another’s premises and engages in an act that exceeds the person’s authority to enter those areas is liable to the owner or operator of the premises for any damages sustained. For the purposes of this section, “nonpublic areas” shall mean those areas not accessible to or not intended to be accessed by the general public.

(b)        For the purposes of this section, an act that exceeds a person’s authority to enter the nonpublic areas of another’s premises is any of the following:

(1)        An employee who enters the nonpublic areas of an employer’s premises for a reason other than a bona fide intent of seeking or holding employment or doing business with the employer and thereafter without authorization captures or removes the employer’s data, paper, records, or any other documents and uses the information to breach the person’s duty of loyalty to the employer.

(2)        An employee who intentionally enters the nonpublic areas of an employer’s premises for a reason other than a bona fide intent of seeking or holding employment or doing business with the employer and thereafter without authorization records images or sound occurring within an employer’s premises and uses the recording to breach the person’s duty of loyalty to the employer.

(3)        Knowingly or intentionally placing on the employer’s premises an unattended camera or electronic surveillance device and using that device to record images or data.

(4)        Conspiring in organized retail theft, as defined in Article 16A of Chapter 14 of the N.C. Gen. Stat..

(5)        An act that substantially interferes with the ownership or possession of real property.

(c)        Any person who intentionally directs, assists, compensates, or induces another person to violate this section shall be jointly liable.

(d)       A court may award to a party who prevails in an action brought pursuant to this section one or more of the following remedies:

(1)        Equitable relief.

(2)        Compensatory damages as otherwise allowed by State or federal law.

(3)        Costs and fees, including reasonable attorneys’ fees.

(4)        Exemplary damages as otherwise allowed by State or federal law in the amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each day, or portion thereof, that a defendant has acted in violation of subsection (a) of this section.

(e)        Nothing in this section shall be construed to diminish the protections provided to employees under Article 21 of Chapter 95 or Article 14 of Chapter 126 of the N.C. Gen. Stat., nor may any party who is covered by these Articles be liable under this section.

(f)        This section shall not apply to any governmental agency or law enforcement officer engaged in a lawful investigation of the premises or the owner or operator of the premises.

(g)        Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit any other remedy available at common law or provided by the General Statutes. ?(2015-50, s. 1.)

Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 99A-2

  • Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 99A Contents