COURT OF APPEALS OPINIONS

Shelia J. Troy v. William Troy
M1998-00989-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Judge Jim T. Hamilton

This appeal involves a dispute between a woman and her former in-laws regarding the title to a tract of property in Prospect, Tennessee and the in-laws' accounting for $35,000 held for the benefit of the woman and her former husband. When she filed for divorce in the Chancery Court for Giles County, the woman also named her in-laws as defendants and alleged that they had misappropriated marital assets and breached a contract to convey the property in Prospect, Tennessee. After agreeing to an irreconcilable differences divorce, the woman proceeded with her claims against her former in-laws. Following a bench trial, the trial court held that the in-laws had accounted for all the funds being held for the benefit of the woman and her former husband and that the in-laws owned the disputed property. On this appeal, the woman takes issue with both of these conclusions. We have determined that the trial court properly found that the property belonged to the in-laws. However, we have also determined that the in-laws did not properly account for $892.15 of the funds they were holding. Accordingly, we modify the final order to award the woman a $892.15 judgment against her former in-laws.

Giles Court of Appeals

Richard Wilson v. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
M2000-02573-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Houston M. Goddard
Trial Court Judge: Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.
In this appeal from the Chancery Court for Davidson County, Dr. Richard Wilson, the Plaintiff/Appellant, contends that the Chancellor erred in affirming an Administrative Judge's decision that Dr. Wilson engaged in conduct warranting his dismissal as a tenured faculty member at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the Defendant/Appellee, for violation of the University's policy against sexual harassment. We reverse the judgment of the Chancery Court and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We adjudge costs against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Davidson Court of Appeals

Lois Miller v. James Miller
M2001-00501-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Muriel Robinson
In this appeal from the Chancery Court for Davidson County Dr. Richard Wilson, the Plaintiff/Appellant, contends that the Chancellor erred in affirming an Administrative Judge's decision that Dr. Wilson engaged in conduct warranting his dismissal as a tenured faculty member at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the Defendant/Appellee, for violation of the University's policy against sexual harassment. We reverse the judgment of the Chancery Court and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We adjudge costs against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Davidson Court of Appeals

David Pitts v. Floyd Blackwell
M2000-01733-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: Floyd Don Davis
This appeal involves the decision of a probate court to approve the amended first and final accounting of a conservatorship and award attorney's fees for the conservator's defense of the accounting. The conservator, owner of a funeral home, conducted a $26,367.75 funeral for the conservatee. An interested party objected to approval of the funeral expenses and a hearing was held. The probate court ordered the conservator to return the proceeds from a prepaid burial life insurance policy to the estate, but confirmed the accounting in all other respects. For the following reasons, we affirm in part, reverse in part, vacate in part and remand for further proceedings.

Franklin Court of Appeals

Ishaaq (aka Alonzo Stewart) v. Dept. of Correction, et al.
M2000-01957-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Carol L. Mccoy
Ishaaq, a prisoner in the Department of Corrections serving a combined 130 year sentence for Class X felonies committed prior to July 1, 1982, seeks to rescind a waiver by which he chose, in 1987, to gain the sentence reduction credit benefits applicable to him under Tennessee Code Annotated section 41-21-236. He seeks to rescind the waiver under the belief that he would thereby become eligible for mandatory parole. The trial judge dismissed his complaint, and we affirm the action of the trial court.

Davidson Court of Appeals

Washshukru Al-Jabbar vs. State
W2001-02049-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
This is an appeal from an order of the Claims Commission granting summary judgment in favor of the Defendant. The claim was brought by an inmate in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Correction claiming that employees of the Department lost two pages of pleadings he filed in an action in circuit court.

Lauderdale Court of Appeals

State Children Serv. vs. Donald Grant
W2001-01934-COA-R3-JV
Authoring Judge: Judge Holly M. Kirby
Trial Court Judge: Christy R. Little
This case involves the termination of parental rights. The child was voluntarily placed in the custody of the Department of Children's Services in April 1996 due to the parents' substance abuse. A petition was filed to terminate the parental rights of both parents. The mother's parental rights were terminated by default, but the petition was dismissed as to the father. The trial court then ordered visitation and child support. The father stopped making visits after two months and failed to pay any child support. A second petition to terminate the father's parental rights was filed on the grounds, inter alia, of abandonment and that the conditions which led to the child's removal persisted and were unlikely to be remedied. The trial court granted the petition to terminate parental rights and the father appeals. We affirm, finding clear and convincing evidence to support the termination of the father's parental rights.

Madison Court of Appeals

Candace Fleck vs. Cooper Realty
W2001-00465-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge W. Frank Crawford
Trial Court Judge: D'Army Bailey
Plaintiff allegedly sustained injuries at Mid Memphis Tower Building when she exited an elevator which failed to level. She and her husband sued the building's management company and the company that owns the manufacturer of the elevator. The suit against the elevator company alleges that the company was negligent "by failing to insure that the elevator in question was properly inspected, maintained, and repaired." The elevator company's interrogatories, inter alia, requested the identity of any expert witness the plaintiffs planned to use at trial. Plaintiffs answered this interrogatory in December, 1998: "Plaintiffs have not identified such individuals at this time." The interrogatories were never supplemented, and the case was set for trial on December 1, 1999. In October, 1999, the elevator company filed a motion for summary judgment on the ground that the lack of an expert witness prevented plaintiffs from proving essential elements of the case. Plaintiffs were granted additional time within which to obtain an expert witness and subsequently announced that plaintiffs did not intend to have an expert witness. The trial court granted summary judgment to the elevator company. Subsequently, the building's management company settled its case and upon dismissal of that suit, the grant of summary judgment became final. Plaintiff-wife appealed. We reverse.

Shelby Court of Appeals

Angela Phillips vs. William Phillips
W2001-01685-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: Daniel L. Smith
This appeal arises from a divorce proceeding wherein the parties had two minor children. While the divorce was pending, the trial court issued a temporary order outlining the custodial rights of the parties with respect to their children. The final decree of divorce adopted a permanent parenting plan and distributed the marital property and debts. The husband filed this appeal contesting the permanent parenting plan and the manner in which the marital debts were apportioned. For the following reasons, we affirm the decision of the trial court

Hardin Court of Appeals

Debbie Risner vs. Nathan Harris
W2001-01041-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Holly M. Kirby
Trial Court Judge: William B. Acree
This is an action to recover personal property. The plaintiff and defendant lived together for seventeen years. In November 1999, the plaintiff moved out. She left personal property in the trailer in which the couple was living, in the nearby convenience store owned by the defendant, and in a storage unit in another town. In August 2000, the convenience store caught on fire, and the plaintiff's personal property in the store was destroyed. Soon thereafter, the defendant took possession of the plaintiff's other personal property that had been held in the storage unit and called her to come get it. In November 2000, the plaintiff filed a warrant in general sessions court to recover her personal property from the defendant. She claimed that the defendant had prevented her from retrieving any of her personal property. She received a judgment which was appealed to circuit court. The circuit court entered a judgment in favor of the plaintiff, awarded damages, and ordered the defendant to return certain items to the plaintiff. The defendant now appeals. We reverse the trial court's decision with respect to two of the items ordered returned and the property that the plaintiff had kept in the storage unit in another town, and affirm the remainder of the order.

Obion Court of Appeals

Steffone McClendon, father of Damien O'Shay Maurice McClendon, the next of kind of Cyhthia Vanessa Francis, Deceased, v. Dr. Elaine Bunick
E2001-02816-COA-RM-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: Judge Dale C. Workman

This case involves a medical malpractice claim that was dismissed on summary judgment by the trial court. The plaintiff, Steffone McClendon, appealed to this Court, seeking a reversal of the trial court’s summary judgment. We affirmed the trial court’s decision based on the legislative history and our interpretation of Section 20-1-119 of the Tennessee code. The plaintiff sought a review of this Court’s decision with the Tennessee Supreme Court. Although the supreme court refused to hear the case, it remanded the case to this Court for reconsideration in light of Townes v. Sunbeam Oster Co., Inc., 50 S.W. 3d 446 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001) released this year by the middle
section of this Court and recently published.

Knox Court of Appeals

Town of Greeneville vs. Jack Cobble, et ux
E2001-00869-COA-R9-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Herschel P. Franks
Trial Court Judge: Kindall T. Lawson
Trial Court refused to grant partial summary judgment as to the extent of land taken. On appeal, we reverse.

Greene Court of Appeals

E2001-01363-COA-R3-JV
E2001-01363-COA-R3-JV
Authoring Judge: Judge Houston M. Goddard
Trial Court Judge: Tom Wright

Greene Court of Appeals

Monroe Davis vs. State
E2001-02032-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Charles D. Susano, Jr.
The plaintiff, Monroe E. Davis is a prisoner in state custody. He filed a complaint with the Tennessee Claims Commission ("the Claims Commission") against the State of Tennessee and the warden of the facility at which he is incarcerated, seeking damages for the alleged detention and/or conversion of his personal property by the warden. The Claims Commission granted the defendants' motion to dismiss. We affirm.

Court of Appeals

Johnson vs. CCA
W2001-00595-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Trial Court Judge: Jon Kerry Blackwood
This is an appeal from an order of the trial court granting a motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. We reverse in part and affirm in part.

Hardeman Court of Appeals

Chantal Eldridge v. Putnam County
M2000-02963-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Vernon Neal
This is a case about the Open Records Act as applied to the telephone records of a Drug Task Force. After the Chancery Court of Putnam County ordered the County to produce the records, the County appealed, arguing that the records fit an exception to the Act or that the County should be able at the plaintiff's expense to redact the records to delete confidential information. We modify the chancellor's order to allow the County to redact the records at their own expense.

Putnam Court of Appeals

Christell Staggs v. William Sells, et al.
M2000-03095-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: John A. Turnbull
This case involves a claim of negligent misrepresentation in the sale of a home. The trial court found that Defendants' statements and actions constituted negligent misrepresentation of the condition of the property resulting in $25,000.00 in damages to Plaintiff. However, the trial court also found, applying principles of comparative fault, that Defendants were 60% at fault and Plaintiff was 40% at fault. A judgment of $15,000 was, thus, assessed against Defendants. Defendants appeal the court's finding of negligent misrepresentations, as well as the amount of damages determined by the court to be suffered by Plaintiff. We affirm.

Putnam Court of Appeals

Christell Staggs v. William Sells, et al.
M2000-03095-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: John A. Turnbull
This case involves a claim of negligent misrepresentation in the sale of a home. The trial court found that Defendants' statements and actions constituted negligent misrepresentation of the condition of the property resulting in $25,000.00 in damages to Plaintiff. However, the trial court also found, applying principles of comparative fault, that Defendants were 60% at fault and Plaintiff was 40% at fault. A judgment of $15,000 was, thus, assessed against Defendants. Defendants appeal the court's finding of negligent misrepresentations, as well as the amount of damages determined by the court to be suffered by Plaintiff. We affirm.

Putnam Court of Appeals

Shelley (Douglas) Stevenson, v. Michael Kingston Stevenson
01A01-9506-CV-00230
Authoring Judge: Judge Samuel L. Lewis
Trial Court Judge: Judge Muriel Robinson

This is an appeal by defendant, Michael Kingston Stevenson (Husband), from the trial court's award of alimony in solido, alimony in futuro, the amount of child support award, and the award of additional alimony in solido of $9,700.00 for plaintiff, Shelly Sue Douglas Stevenson's (Wife), attorney's fee.

Davidson Court of Appeals

Sholodge Franchise Systems, INc., v. McKibbon Brothers, Inc.
01A01-9506-CH-00240
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Henry F. Todd
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor C. Allen High

The plaintiff counter-defendant, ShoLodge Franchise Systems, Inc. (hereafter "Sholodge") has appealed from a jury verdict of $327,272 in favor of the defendant counterplaintiff McKibbon Brothers, Inc. (hereafter McKibbon) for damages for breach of a franchise contract.

Davidson Court of Appeals

Johnny W. Raines, v. Charles Traughber, Chairman, Tennessee Board of Paroles, et al.
01A01-9508-CH-00364
Authoring Judge: Judge Samuel L. Lewis
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Robert S. Brandt

This is an appeal by petitioner, Johnny W. Raines, from the trial court's dismissal of his petition for certiorari from a decision of the Tennessee Board of Paroles (Board).

Davidson Court of Appeals

Richard C. King, and Wife, Kimberly King, v. W.D. Schock, Inc., South Central Bell Telephone Co, A/K/A Bellsouth Telecommunications, Inc., and Charles LaRue, et al.
01A01-9505-CV-00210
Authoring Judge: Judge Samuel L. Lewis
Trial Court Judge: Judge Walter C. Kurtz

This is an appeal by plaintiffs/appellants, Richard and Kimberly King, from the trial court's order granting summary judgment to defendants/appellees, W. D. Schock, Co. ("Schock"), South Central Bell Telephone Co. a/k/a Bell South Telecommunications, Inc. ("Bell South"), and Charles LaRue.

Davidson Court of Appeals

Town of Morrison, v. Warren County, Tennessee
01A01-9508-CH-00332
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge W. Frank Crawford
Trial Court Judge: Judge Jeffrey F. Stewart

This appeal involves a dispute between Warren County, Tennessee and the Town of Morrison, a municipality located within Warren County, regarding the disposition of the revenue generated by the county local option sales tax. On March 21, 1988, plaintiff, Town of Morrison (hereinafter Morrison), filed a complaint for declaratory judgment against defendant, Warren County. The
complaint alleges that under T.C.A. § 67-6-712 (Supp. 1995), a justiciable controversy exists between the parties concerning their respective rights to distribution of the county local option sales tax revenue. The complaint avers that the Warren County local option sales tax was adopted in 1969 and increased in 1976 and 1985. Morrison alleges that since 1969 the tax revenues
have been collected by the Tennessee Department of Revenue and distributed to Warren County, but Warren County has refused to pay Morrison its share of the taxes as required by T.C.A. § 67-6-712 (2)(B). The complaint seeks a declaration of the rights of the parties to the sales tax revenues, and an accounting of, and a judgment for, Morrison's share of the local option sales tax.

Warren Court of Appeals

Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company, v. Joe Huddleston, Commissioner of Revenue, State of Tennessee
01A01-9508-CH-00347
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Robert S. Brandt

In this case, we are presented with the issue of whether a private act is invalid as being in conflict with the general law addressing the same subject.Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company, v. Joe H

Davidson Court of Appeals

Richard Arnold and his wife, Barbara Arnold v. The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County
01A01-9505-CV-00203
Authoring Judge: Judge Samuel L. Lewis
Trial Court Judge: Judge Marietta M. Shipley

This is an appeal by defendant/appellant, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County ("Metro"), from the judgment of the trial court against it in favor of plaintiffs/ appellees, Richard and Barbara Arnold, and crossdefendant/ appellee, Gloria Ford.

Davidson Court of Appeals