OPINION CHARLES D. SUSANO, JR., JUDGE. This is an action to establish paternity and set child support filed by the State of Tennessee on behalf of Rochelle L. ("Mother"), the mother of a child born August 6, 1988. The putative father is James G. ("Father"). The trial court held Father liable for back child support of $123,334 by a default judgment entered September 3, 2008. Father filed a post-judgment motion challenging the judgment for lack of service of process. The trial court denied the...
OPINION JOHN W. McCLARTY, JUDGE. Bank provided a loan to Borrowers for the purchase of real property and construction of a log cabin home. After Borrowers defaulted on the loan, Bank sold the property at a foreclosure sale. Bank then initiated a lawsuit alleging conversion, negligent business representation, and promissory fraud. Bank also sought a deficiency judgment for the difference in the amount owed on the loan and the foreclosure sale price. After a bench trial, the trial court awarded...
OPINION CHARLES D. SUSANO, JR., JUDGE. This is a case regarding the custody of a minor female child, Bevin H. (DOB: Dec. 19, 2001) ("the Child"). The Child was born to Randy H. ("Father") and his wife. Tragically, the Child's mother died two days after the Child was born. Shortly thereafter, the Child's paternal aunt, Rhonda H. ("Aunt") and her husband, became the Child's primary caregivers. Aunt 1 sought custody, alleging that the Child was dependent and neglected in Father's care. During...
OPINION CHARLES D. SUSANO, JR., JUDGE. In this conservatorship action, we granted the application of Jay R. Slobey, James A. Freeman, III and Megan E. Livingstone, all attorneys, 1 for a Tenn. R. App. P. 10 extraordinary appeal seeking relief with respect to two interlocutory orders of the trial court. The orders are: (1) one prohibiting attorneys with the law firm of James A. Freeman & Associates, P.C. from representing William J. Allen ("the Ward"); 2 and (2) another appointing attorney...
MEMORANDUM OPINION 1 J. STEVEN STAFFORD, JUDGE. Appellant, the Estate of the Decedent herein, appeals the Chancery Court of McNairy County's denial of the Estate's exception to a claim for Decedent's funeral expenses. Decedent's brother, the Appellee herein, held a power of attorney for his father (who is also Decedent's father). Appellee exercised the power of attorney to arrange Decedent's funeral and to pay for that funeral with the father's funds. The claim, which was filed in Appellee's...
OPINION J. STEVEN STAFFORD, JUDGE. In this divorce case, Wife appeals the trial court's division of marital property. She asserts that the parties' marital residence is her separate property and that the trial court erred in awarding Husband a share of the net proceeds following its court-ordered sale. Wife contends that she purchased the property during the marriage with her separate, premarital funds, that it was titled and financed in her name only, and that she paid the mortgage, taxes,...
OPINION 1 RICHARD H. DINKINS, JUDGE. In this appeal from the Tennessee Claims Commission, taxpayer, a self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangement, seeks a refund of taxes paid under protest, asserting that the tax was preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and that the tax is uncertain and ambiguous. We affirm. The Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association Benefit Consortium, Inc., ("TBC") is a Tennessee not-for-profit corporation; the members of...
OPINION ANDY D. BENNETT, JUDGE. In a landlord-tenant dispute, the tenant plaintiff claims that before the parties entered into a lease for commercial property, the landlord defendants misrepresented estimated operating expenses that the plaintiff was expected to pay as part of its rent pursuant to the lease terms. The plaintiff appeals the trial court's dismissal of its claims for fraud and violation of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act. We find that the defendants misrepresented...
OPINION ANDY D. BENNETT, JUDGE. An inmate filed suit, claiming that he was discriminated against in job assignments and that his First Amendment rights were violated in that he was retaliated against for making complaints. The trial court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss. We affirm. Tennessee inmate Carl Sutherland filed suit claiming that he was denied his job request in retaliation for his use of the prison grievance procedure. His claim was dismissed for failure to state a claim...
OPINION ALAN E. HIGHERS, P.J., W.S. Appellant, who was not placed on fall observations until after his fall, suffered a fall while under the care of the Western Mental Health Institute. A CAT scan performed three days after the fall revealed no hemorrhaging, however, a repeat scan performed approximately one month later revealed a subdural hematoma for which Appellant subsequently underwent two surgeries. Appellant, by and through his next friend, filed suit against the State in the Claims...
OPINION DAVID R. FARMER, JUDGE. Plaintiff was injured when Defendant Madden drove his vehicle at a high speed and in the wrong direction on an exit ramp of I-40/240 and collided head-on with Plaintiff's vehicle. Plaintiff filed a negligence action against Defendant Madden and against the City of Memphis pursuant to the Governmental Tort Liability Act. In his complaint, Plaintiff asserted Memphis City police negligently pursued Defendant Madden, and that this negligence proximately caused...
MEMORANDUM OPINION 1 DAVID R. FARMER, JUDGE. Plaintiff/Appellant filed an action alleging breach of contract and retaliatory discharge. Defendant moved for summary judgment on both claims, and asserted the action was barred by a contractual limitations provision in the application for employment. The trial court awarded summary judgment to Defendant with respect to the retaliatory discharge claim, and denied summary judgment with respect to Defendant's assertion that the matter was time-...
OPINION HERSCHEL PICKENS FRANKS, P.J. The Trial Judge ruled against defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment because there were disputed issues of material fact. The Trial Court authorized an interlocutory appeal, which we granted. Upon consideration of the case, we conclude, as did the Trial Judge, there are disputed issues of material fact, affirm the Judgment of the Trial Court and remand. Plaintiff, Wisdom, sued her employer, Wellmont Health System, alleging that she was the victim of...
OPINION D. MICHAEL SWINEY, JUDGE. After eighteen years of marriage, Jennie F. Ingraham ("Wife") sued Patrick Garrett Ingraham ("Husband") for divorce. After a trial, the Trial Court entered its Final Judgment on December 7, 2009, inter alia, granting Wife a divorce and dividing the marital property. Husband appeals to this Court raising issues regarding the valuation and distribution of the marital property. Wife raises additional issues concerning the property distribution and attorney...
OPINION FRANK G. CLEMENT, JR., JUDGE. The father of a minor child appeals his conviction of eighteen counts of criminal contempt for willful failure to pay child support. He contends the evidence was insufficient to sustain the convictions because the State failed to present evidence he had the ability to pay or that his failure to pay was willful. We agree and reverse the holding of the trial court. A petition to establish paternity and set child support was filed in the Davidson County...
OPINION JOHN W. McCLARTY, JUDGE. This appeal involves the question of whether the trial court properly dismissed Plaintiff's action when another related lawsuit, filed prior to this Hamblen County Chancery Court action, was pending in Knox County Chancery Court. We hold that the trial court properly dismissed Plaintiff's action under the prior suit pending doctrine. Accordingly, we affirm. I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND Santos Aguilar, through his counsel, John P. Doyle, (collectively "Defendants")...
OPINION D. MICHAEL SWINEY, JUDGE. Lindsi Allison Connors ("Mother") and Jeremy Phillip Lawson ("Father") are the parents of a daughter (the "Child") who currently is eight years old. Several parenting plans have been entered over the years. Mother eventually moved with the Child to Florida, and thereafter, Father filed a petition claiming there had been a material change in circumstances such that it was in the Child's best interest for him to be designated the primary residential parent....
OPINION J. STEVEN STAFFORD, JUDGE. This is an appeal from the grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant/Appellee. Plaintiff/Appellant filed suit on the basis of Defendant/Appellee's alleged underpayment of fees earned pursuant to a contract between the parties. The trial court found that the contract was not ambiguous as to the applicable fee schedule and that Plaintiff/Appellant's interpretation was incorrect as a matter of law. Discerning no error, we affirm. This appeal involves the...
OPINION PATRICIA J. COTTRELL, JUDGE. The trial court reduced a divorced husband's alimony obligation because of a decline in his income from existing and expected future reductions in his overtime hours at the Post Office. The wife argues on appeal that her medical condition continues to prevent her from working, so her need remains the same as it was before, and that a reduction in alimony is therefore unjustified, even if the husband's ability to pay declines. She also argues that the trial...
OPINION DAVID R. FARMER, JUDGE. This is an action to enforce a promissory note. The plaintiff/appellee, a realty company, entered into an exclusive listing agreement with John Sporup for the sale of real property. The listing agreement provided for an eight percent commission in cash on the sale of the property. The realty company secured a buyer, the sale closed, and it received a portion of the commission owed. As an accommodation to the client, however, the realty company agreed to defer...
