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Savage v. N.C. Department of Transportation
Filed August 22, 2025

The vote

5–0
Divided
+2 in part
7 of 7 justices participating
Concurrence 1 justice Agreed with the outcome, wrote separately
Concurring in part, dissenting in part 2 justices Joined part of the ruling, dissented from the rest

Lineup parsed from the opinion and verified against the PDF.

Issue

Renewal of school bus driver's certificates—falsified records—applicability of section 20-34.1

Summary

The N.C. Department of Transportation (DOT) did not have just cause to terminate from employment a driver education program specialist pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 20-34.1, which criminalizes the act of knowingly entering "false information concerning a drivers license or a special identification card" into official records, because the statute did not apply to the specialist's conduct recertifying several school bus drivers without having conducted ride-along observations of those drivers. A school bus driver's certificate does not qualify as a "drivers license" for purposes of section 20-34.1, since it is a separate driving credential. Therefore, the decision of the Court of Appeals (reversing the final decision of the administrative law judge finding no just cause) was reversed, and the matter was remanded to the lower appellate court for consideration of the DOT's remaining arguments on appeal.

Summary from the North Carolina Reports digest (official subject index). Read the opinion →

The record

DecisionReversed and Remanded
Docket235PA23
CountyOffice of Admin. Hearings County
CategoryWorkplace Rights