Whitley v. O'NEAL

In oral argument in this Court, the defendant’s entered a demurrer ore tenus on the ground that the plaintiffs’ complaint does not state a cause of action. There is some confusion as to what theory plaintiffs are relying upon in seeking relief. Their complaint, apparently, attempts to set forth a cause of action based upon fraud. North Carolina does not follow the strict rule that a party must succeed, if at all, only upon the theory set forth in his pleading. “This strict rule savors of the technicalities of the common law system; and North Carolina follows the more liberal view that the…