In the Matter of Z.A.W.
The trial court denied continuance, awarded custody of the parties’ child to Father, and refused to grant Mother visitation until she completed a psychological evaluation and petitioned the court. Mother appeals, asserting the trial court erred by denying a continuance and by refusing to award her visitation rights. We affirm the denial of a continuance, but reverse the denial of visitation and remand to the trial court to set visitation. |
Madison | Court of Appeals | |
Mary Caroline Pierpoint v. Rodney Craig Pierpoint
In this domestic relations case, Husband complains, inter alia, that the trial court erred: in awarding primary custody of the parties’ children, ages two and four, to Wife, in the amount of support obligations, and in failing to award his attorney fees. Judgment of the trial court is affirmed in part, vacated in part and remanded. |
Weakley | Court of Appeals | |
In the Matter of I.A.B, D.O.B. 1/8/2003 Eric Burt v. Elizabeth Farley
This is a custody proceeding wherein Mother offered no proof except her own testimony. When the judgment was entered against her, she argues that the trial court should have conducted a comparative fitness analysis and that the case should be remanded for this purpose. Judgment of the |
Gibson | Court of Appeals | |
Zula M. Dunn v. Norman E. Dunn
Husband appeals the trial court’s distribution of marital property and award of alimony in futuro. We affirm. |
Gibson | Court of Appeals | |
Martha Flowers (Hasenmueller) v. Steven Lee Hasenmueller
This is a contempt action arising out of a divorce. The parties’ final decree of divorce incorporated a marital dissolution agreement. The husband filed a petition for civil and criminal contempt against the wife for several alleged violations of the martial dissolution agreement. At the first hearing on the husband’s petition, the husband requested leave of court to amend his petition for contempt. Leave to amend was granted, and in light of the amendment, the trial court ordered a two-day continuance of the hearing. When the proceedings were reconvened, the trial court ruled that the wife had committed three violations of the marital dissolution agreement. The trial court awarded the husband $12,000 in attorney’s fees for prosecuting the contempt petition. The wife appeals, asserting that the trial court erred in granting the husband leave to amend his petition, finding that the wife violated the terms of the MDA, and in awarding the husband $12,000 in attorney’s fees. We affirm the grant of leave to amend the petition and the finding that the wife violated the terms of the MDA. However, the award of attorney’s fees is vacated and the cause remanded for reconsideration of this issue. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee, ex rel. Willie Beard v. Stacey Hannah
This is a Title IV child support case. The State appeals from the trial court’s Order refusing to set support because the Petitioner did not have legal custody of the child at the time she received public assistance from the Department of Human Services, nor was the biological parent given notice that she would have to reimburse the Department of Human Services for moneys spent on behalf of her son when she placed him in the custody of the Petitioner. We reverse and remand. |
Gibson | Court of Appeals | |
Lori Ann Russ v. Stephen Russ
This appeal stems from a divorce case. In this appeal, we are asked to determine whether the chancery court erred when it named the wife as the primary residential parent, when it adopted a visitation schedule requiring the children to be transported between husband and wife on a daily basis during the week, and when it declined to award husband alimony. The husband contends on appeal that naming him primary residential parent and adopting his permanent parenting plan would be less disruptive on the children. Further, he asserts that the court should have awarded him alimony as he was the economically disadvantaged spouse and has a limited income due to his medical condition. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand. |
Giles | Court of Appeals | |
Nicole Francois v. Linda Willis
This appeal involves a request for prejudgment interest in a personal injury case. After the Circuit Court for Cheatham County entered a $27,787.50 judgment for the prevailing motorist, the motorist filed a post-trial motion seeking prejudgment interest. The trial court denied the motion, and the prevailing motorist appealed. We affirm the trial court because prejudgment interest in not available in personal injury cases. |
Cheatham | Court of Appeals | |
Peggy Armstrong v. Metropolitan Nashville Hospital Authority
This appeal involves the discharge of a clerical employee by the Metropolitan Nashville General Hospital. After her discharge was upheld by the Metropolitan Nashville Hospital Authority, the employee filed a petition in the Chancery Court for Davidson County seeking judicial review of the decision to discharge her. The trial court affirmed the discharge, and the employee has appealed. Like the trial court, we have determined that the decision to discharge the employee for deficient and inefficient performance of duties is supported by substantial and material evidence. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
Gary Weaver, et al. v. Thomas R. McCarter, et al.
Plaintiffs Gary and Gail Weaver filed suit against Coldwell Banker Hoffman-Burke, Inc. Realtors (“Defendant CBHB”), Jim Perdue (“Defendant Perdue”), Thomas McCarter (“Defendant McCarter”), and Chip Hunter (“Defendant Hunter”) seeking damages resulting from a failed real estate sale. The Plaintiffs specifically sought damages from Defendants CBHB and Perdue for negligence per se, negligent misrepresentation, and fraud. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Plaintiffs on the issue of liability for all Defendants, but reserved ruling on damages for trial. At trial, the trial court awarded the Plaintiffs damages in the amount of $134,225.06 plus attorney’s fees and held all Defendants jointly and severally liable for the entire award. Both the Plaintiffs and Defendants CBHB and Perdue assert various issues on appeal. For the reasons stated below, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand this case for further proceedings. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
George Palmetree, et al. v. Jess Rivera and Jess Rivera d/b/a Construction Services
The trial court entered a default judgment in favor of Plaintiffs in an action alleging breach of contract, fraud, and violations of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, and denied Defendant’s Rule 60.02 motion to set aside the judgment. We reverse and remand for further proceedings. |
Obion | Court of Appeals | |
Jerry Joyner v. Personal Finance Corporation
This is a summary judgment case. Appellant/Husband and his ex-wife entered into a marital dissolution agreement wherein the ex-wife was awarded the marital residence subject to the condition that should she choose to sell the property Appellant was then entitled to $20,000.00 from the net proceeds of the sale. The ex-wife refinanced the property and executed a Deed of Trust in favor of the Appellee. When ex-wife defaulted on her payments, Appellee foreclosed on the property. Appellant/Husband filed suit against the Appellee seeking enforcement of an equitable lien against the property. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Appellee. We affirm. |
Henry | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee, ex rel., Sharon Denise Townsend v. Eric Wayne Williamson
This appeal concerns two related, but distinct, proceedings in Juvenile Court. One was a custody proceeding, and the other a contempt of court proceeding arising from a failure to comply with child support obligations. Separate docket numbers were assigned to each case. After a judgment was rendered in the contempt proceeding, the father filed a notice of appeal. Several months later, another judgment was rendered in the custody modification proceeding. No notice of appeal was filed for the custody modification proceeding. After the case was appealed to the Court of Appeals, the father obtained a consolidation order from the Juvenile Court. On appeal, the father argues only that the Juvenile Court erred in its custody order. Finding that neither of the two orders is final and appealable, we must dismiss the father’s appeal based upon a lack of jurisdiction and remand all proceedings to the Juvenile Court. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
In Re. Thomas P.
The trial court terminated the parental rights of Rene V. (“Mother”) to her child, Thomas P. (DOB: September 27, 2000),1 upon finding, by clear and convincing evidence, that grounds for terminating her parental rights existed and that termination was in the best interest of the child. Mother appeals. We affirm. |
Sevier | Court of Appeals | |
Jerry Duke, d/b/a Moscow Manor Apartments v. Browning-Ferris Industries of Tennessee, Inc., et al.
Plaintiff/Appellant filed suit against Defendants/Appellees claiming that Defendants/Appellees had violated the Tennessee Trade Practices Act, the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, and the common law doctrines of good faith and fair dealing, and unjust enrichment in its contracting for commercial waste hauling services in the Memphis area. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Defendants/Appellees on both the statutory violation claims and the common law claims. We affirm. |
Fayette | Court of Appeals | |
James Jackson v. Tennessee Department of Correction, et al.
A prisoner in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Correction filed a pro se petition for common law writ of certiorari in the trial court seeking to contest the prison disciplinary board’s findings. The department filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, citing the petition’s lack of notarization, its failure to state that it was the first application for the writ, and the prisoner’s failure to file it within sixty (60) days of the administrative action. The trial court granted the department’s motion to dismiss. The prisoner filed a motion for a new trial asserting that he complied with Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 5.06. The trial court denied the motion. The prisoner timely filed an appeal to this court. We affirm the dismissal of the petition. |
Lauderdale | Court of Appeals | |
Brooke Rathnow b/n/f Rich and Diane Rathnow v. Knox County, et al. - Concurring
I agree completely with Judge Lee’s well-thought-out opinion. I write separately to emphasize what I believe is the linchpin of the reasoning in this case. |
Knox | Court of Appeals | |
Brooke Rathnow b/n/f Rich and Diane Rathnow v. Knox County, et al
A high school student was injured when she fainted after viewing a first aid instructional video depicting simulated wounds that was being shown in one of her classes. The student, through her parents, sued Knox County and the Knox County Board of Education under the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act, alleging that the teacher supervising the class was negligent in allowing her to leave the classroom unattended because it was foreseeable that she might be suffering a physical reaction to the video and that she might faint. The trial court entered judgment in favor of the plaintiff and awarded her damages in the amount of $30,000. The defendants appeal, arguing that plaintiff's fainting was not foreseeable and that, even if the trial court was correct in its finding of negligence, the trial court awarded excessive damages. Upon our determination that the harm suffered by the student was not reasonably foreseeable, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and dismiss this case. |
Knox | Court of Appeals | |
Latreayl Mitchell v. Michael Green
In this appeal, we are asked to determine whether the juvenile court erred when it increased the amount of child support the father was required to pay the mother for their child born out of wedlock. The father originally filed a petition to modify child support seeking to decrease his child support obligation based on the fact that he had another child with another woman that currently resides with him. The juvenile court increased his child support obligation finding that he failed to visit his child after the mother moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, including certain periods of time when the mother brought the child to Memphis, Tennessee to visit the father. The father contends that it was error for the juvenile court to increase his child support obligation because the mother was in violation of the parental relocation statute, section 36-6-108 of the Tennessee Code, and that the father was prevented from visiting his child due to the distance and his medical condition. We affirm. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
Terry L. Harris, et al. v. Jeffrey L. Stover and Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company
In this appeal, we are asked to determine whether the chancery court properly granted the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment. In this case, a lessor and his insurance company brought a direct action against a lessee and the lessee’s insurance company seeking a declaration of the parties’ rights under the lease agreement and reimbursement to the lessor’s insurance company for amounts paid to the lessor for damages to the rental property as a result of a fire while the lessee resided on the property. On appeal, the appellant argues that under the terms of the insurance policy maintained by the lessee, no obligation to pay the lessor or his insurance company arose as a matter of law. We reverse the decision of the chancery court and remand to the chancery court for the entry of an order granting summary judgment to the appellant. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee, ex rel. Latonya Campbell v. Thomas Conley
The trial court granted Respondent Father a downward deviation from the child support guidelines when setting retroactive child support. We reverse. |
Gibson | Court of Appeals | |
In the Matter of M.A.W.
In this termination of parental rights case, the juvenile court terminated the parental rights of T.H.W. (“Mother”) and all potential fathers. Mother appeals. We affirm. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
Miranda Luna, et al. v. William H. Sherwood, M.D., et al.
The issue on appeal is whether the doctrine of forum non conveniens applies in a transitory, intrastate tort action. This is a medical malpractice action in which all of the alleged negligent acts and omissions occurred in Dekalb County. Plaintiffs, White County residents, filed suit in Davidson County, where two of the four defendants have their principal offices. The two Dekalb County defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss based upon improper venue, or in the alternative, forum non conveniens. The trial court found forum non conveniens inapplicable to this intrastate forum dispute and venue proper. We affirm. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
In Re. Adoption of K.M.K., d.o.b. 11/16/97, and K.L.K., d.o.b. 4/30/01 Jeffrey Lee Eneix, Keri Ann Eneix and Chantille Marie Kares v. Stephen John Kares and Sean Laura
This is an adoption and termination of parental rights case. The maternal grandparents of the two children at issue filed this petition requesting that the rights of the children’s father be terminated and that the grandparents be permitted to adopt the children. The mother of the children joined in the petition. The petitioners alleged that the father’s rights should be terminated based on his abandonment for failing to visit or support the children for a period of four months preceding his incarceration. After a hearing, the trial court found three grounds on which to terminate the father’s parental rights: abandonment, persistent conditions, and the length of the father’s prison term. The trial court also found that the children’s best interest would be served by terminating the father’s parental rights. The father now appeals, claiming that the trial court erred in terminating his rights based on abandonment. We affirm the trial court’s decision, because the father did not challenge the other two grounds on which his rights were terminated, and the termination of the his rights based on those grounds must stand. |
Henry | Court of Appeals | |
Lorine Goodwin Hindman v. Allen Moore and wife, Jackie Moore
Decedent executed a Power of Attorney document granting her son broad general powers to act on her behalf. The son executed a Trust Deed and Modification Agreement on Decedent’s property. Decedent and later her Estate asked the Chancery Court to void these documents. The Court refused. On appeal, we affirm. |
Bradley | Court of Appeals |
