In Thompson v. Hamrick, 23 N.C. App. 550, 209 S.E.2d 305 (1974), the minor plaintiff was a passenger in a vehicle operated by his father when it collided with a vehicle operated by the defendant. Id. at 550, 209 S.E.2d at 305. The minor plaintiff filed an action through his guardian ad litem against the defendant to recover for injuries the minor plaintiff sustained in the accident. Id. However, in a previous action, the defendant had sued the minor plaintiff's father and "the jury found the minor plaintiff's father negligent and found that the defendant was not contributorily negligent." Id. In Thompson, the defendant filed a motion for summary judgment against the minor plaintiff on the ground of res judicata, and the trial court granted summary judgment to the defendant on that ground. Id. at 550, 209 S.E.2d at 305-06. However, our Court held: The minor plaintiff in this case was neither a party nor one in privity with a party to the other action and, of course, he had no control over the other lawsuit. That his father was a party in the other action is irrelevant to this minor's right to prosecute his separate cause of action. The judgment from which the minor plaintiff appealed is contrary to law and must be reversed. Id. at 551, 209 S.E.2d at 306.