The state Court of Appeals threw out Bob Orr's lawsuit on Dell.
The former Supreme Court justice and Republican gubernatorial candidate had filed a lawsuit on behalf of taxpayers arguing that incentives used to lure the computer maker were unconstitutional.
But a three-judge panel led by Judge Martha Geer wrote that the constitutionality issue was settled by Maready v. City of Winston-Salem in 1996. She wrote that the incentives issue is now up to the legislature and the governor.
Orr said he was confident that the N.C. Institute on Constitutional Law, which he formerly headed, would appeal the case to the state Supreme Court.
"There's no point in stopping now," he said.
