IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE, DISTRICT COURT DIVISION
IN AND FOR ORANGE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
SERVICE DOGS BY WARREN RETRIEVERS, INC., F/K/A Case No. 2012-CVD-000497 GUARDIAN ANGEL SERVICE DOGS, INC.,
Plaintiff,
vs.
AMY LYNN MILLER,
Defendant.
___________________________________
ANSWER AND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES NOW COMES, the Defendant, Amy Lynn Miller, and in answer to the Complaint of Plaintiff, Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers, Inc., f/k/a Guardian Angel Service Dogs, Inc., states and alleges as follows:
ANSWER As to the following paragraphs, the defendant answers as follows: 1. Admits 2. Admits 3. Admits 4. Admits 5. Admits 6. Leave to proof- defendant neither admits nor denies but leaves plaintiff to prove facts at trial. 7. Without Knowledge 8. Requires no answer 9. Admits 10. Deny 11. Leave to proof- defendant neither admits nor denies but leaves plaintiff to prove facts at trial. 12. Requires no answer 13. Admit in part- Defendant admits the Plaintiff provided a dog, but denies the allegation that it was a service dog 14. Deny 15. Deny 16. Deny 17. Deny AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES
First Affirmative Defense 1. The Plaintiffs claims are barred, in whole or in part, by the doctrine of unclean hands. Plaintiff breached its contractual obligations by not providing a fully trained service dog as contracted. The Plaintiff provided the Defendant with an untrained puppy, unable to perform as a service dog, and failed to provide the proper training for dog.
Second Affirmative Defense 2. The Plaintiffs claims are barred, in whole or in part, because the Defendant was fraudulently induced into by the Plaintiff to sign the contract in question. The Plaintiff failed to disclose the existence of a contract to the Defendant until after the Defendant had paid money to the Plaintiff. The Defendant was forced to sign the contract under the threat of losing any and all monies the Defendant had previously paid to the Plaintiff for the dog, if she did not sign the contract.
Third Affirmative Defense 3. The contract is unconscionable. The Defendant had no input into the forming of the contract. The contract provides for the protection of the Plaintiff only and gives no bargaining power to the Defendant upon Plaintiffs breach of contract.
DATED this 2 nd day of May, 2014 Respectfully submitted, _______________________ DEFENDANT
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on May 5, 2014, I emailed a true and accurate copy of this Answer and Affirmative Defenses via email to Plaintiffs counsel, John B. Walker at bwalker@rl-law.com.
Respectfully submitted, _______________________ Amy Lynn Miller