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Capua Law Enjoys Win with Appellate Lawyers in Opioid-related Employment Case
By: Paul Capua

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With offices in the Appalachian Mountains and having represented medically assisted treatment (MAT) centers for substance abuse disorders for nearly two decades, Capua Law has found itself at times on the front lines of the opioid crisis. It has helped navigate MAT centers through mergers and acquisitions as larger companies have sought to expand; it has challenged the constitutionality of a standing court order that prevented patients from seeking medically assisted treatment for their substance abuse disorders while incarcerated or on probation; and it supports awareness and education in the field to help better understand the challenges faced by MAT centers and patients alike. Christa Capua wrote the article, “Medically Assisted Treatment for Opioid Dependence in the Criminal Justice System,” during her employment at Stepping Stone, published in the North Carolina State Bar Journal. This article discusses the legally protected rights of MAT patients within the judicial system. Click here to read the article.

Capua Law now represents three substance abuse disorder professionals who were fired from a MAT center less than two weeks after complaining to their regional director about a supervisor’s resistance to getting a patient hospitalized. After being fired, the three counselors filed suit against the company for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy (a “WDPP” claim) in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. The district court dismissed the counselors' complaint for failing to state a cause of action for WDPP. Through the efforts of appellate lawyers Chris Haaf and Mark Sigmon, the three counselors succeeded in having the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstate the case (https://www.carolinajournal.com/federal-appeals-court-revives-lawsuit-challenging-substance-abuse-counselors-firing/). The Fourth Circuit’s decision holds that the North Carolina Substance Use Disorder Professional Practice Act represents an important expression of the public policy of the State of North Carolina and that the firing of the counselors constituted plausible violations of the Act. This decision gives the industry — MAT centers and counselors alike — another tool in combatting the complex challenges facing substance abuse disorders.

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