N.C. Justices: Family Can Sue Over Unwanted COVID-19 Shot

The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled on Friday in favor of letting a mother and son proceed with their lawsuit against a school board after the boy was given a COVID-19 shot without parental consent, The Washington Post reported.

In August 2022, Emily Happel sued the Guilford County Board of Education and the Old North State Medical Society after her son Tanner Smith was given a first dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 shot against her wishes and without her consent.

The lawsuit developed out of a situation in August 2021.

"Western Guilford High School notified its football players and their parents, including fourteen-year-old Tanner Smith and his mother, Emily Happel, that it had identified a cluster of COVID-19 cases among the team. It therefore suspended all team activities and required players to undergo COVID-19 testing or be 'cleared by a public health professional' before returning to practice," the ruling states.

"The school provided a list of three locations at which players could receive free testing, one of which was a dual testing and vaccination clinic hosted at the school itself and operated in partnership with defendant Old North State Medical Society (ONSMS). The letter sent to players and their parents, however, only stated that the school clinic offered COVID-19 tests. It did not explain that the school clinic also provided COVID-19 vaccines, nor did it state that the school clinic required students to bring a signed parental consent form before they could be vaccinated."

A few days later, Smith was driven to the school clinic by his stepfather. There, the child was asked to fill out a form while his stepfather waited outside. After school clinicians failed to reach the boy's mother, one staff worker was instructed to "give it to him anyway," according to the family. No attempt was made to contact the boy's stepfather, who was waiting outside.

The Guilford County Board of Education and Old North State Medical Society argued the case should be dismissed under the federal Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, which grants broad legal immunity to individuals and entities involved in administering countermeasures during a public health emergency — except in cases of willful misconduct. Lower courts had agreed, dismissing the suit.

But in a 5–2 decision split along party lines, the state Supreme Court ruled that the PREP Act does not bar claims brought under the North Carolina Constitution.

"We agree that the state constitution protects a parent's right to control her child's upbringing, including her right to make medical decisions on her child's behalf," wrote Chief Justice Paul Newby in the majority opinion.

The court affirmed that the battery claim filed by the mother could proceed.

Attorney Steven Walker, representing the family, touted the ruling as a "significant victory" and said it recognized the "serious liberty implications of government actors administering medicine or other treatment without the consent of the patient or the patient's parent."