Court says PREP Act does not bar Guilford County vaccine suit

The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that the federal PREP Act does not bar Emily Happel and Tanner Smith’s state constitutional claims over a COVID-19 vaccine given to the Guilford County teen at a school clinic without parental consent. The unanimous decision sent Happel v. Guilford County Board of Education back to trial court to decide whether the clinic operator acted as state authority.

The ruling keeps alive a lawsuit that began in Guilford County Superior Court under case number 22-CVS-007024-400, filed March 21, 2025. The plaintiffs, Happel and her son, sued the Guilford County Board of Education and Old North State Medical Society, alleging battery and violations of North Carolina constitutional rights after the 14-year-old was vaccinated at a school clinic.

The appeals court did not decide whether the vaccine was improperly given or what damages, if any, the family may recover. Instead, it narrowed the next question for the trial court: whether the clinic operator was acting with state authority when the shot was administered. That issue matters for Guilford County Schools because it goes to how much legal responsibility a school district may face when it partners with outside medical providers to run on-campus clinics.

The case had already moved through earlier appellate review. The North Carolina Supreme Court had previously allowed the family’s claims to proceed past the immunity issue, and the Court of Appeals’ latest ruling means the dispute now survives another major legal challenge. For parents in Guilford County, the decision leaves open the possibility of state constitutional claims when a school-based medical decision is made without consent.

In practical terms, the ruling is likely to affect how Guilford County Schools, school nurses and outside clinic operators handle permission forms, student vaccination records and authority at school health events. If a school clinic is treated as an extension of the state, the legal exposure for the district could be broader than many parents assume. If it is not, the defendants may argue the clinic operator alone controlled the medical decision.

The fight now returns to the trial court in Guilford County, where the next phase will focus on who was legally responsible at the moment Tanner Smith received the vaccine.