Employment Law Court Rulings

The plaintiff sought to recover damages from the defendant for breach of contract. Specifically, the plaintiff's complaint alleged that the defendant breached the parties' marital separation agreement by failing to disclose certain assets. Following a trial, the trial court rendered judgment in…

Trial court erred in determining plaintiff's case, alleging the defendant committed statutory violations under R.C. 1309.613, 1309.614, and 1309.616, to be moot where the defendant's unaccepted check for an amount exceeding statutory damages and dismissal of its own claims with prejudice did not…

The plaintiff sought to recover damages from the defendant for, inter alia, negligence in connection with the defendant's construction of a bulkhead at a marina operated by M Co. on property owned by the plaintiff. Pursuant to a lease agreement between the plaintiff and M Co., M Co. was obligated…

summary judgment, Civ.R. 56, retaliation, genuine issue of material fact, Civ.R. 15(A), amended complaint

CIVIL - frivolous conduct R.C. 2323.51 Civ.R. 11 magistrate's decision Civ.R. 53 transcript clear error of law or other defect on its face factual determinations no evidentiary support harass or maliciously injure.

Racial discrimination disparate treatment disparate impact statistical evidence pretext. The trial court properly granted summary judgment in favor of defendant on plaintiff's disparate-treatment-discrimination claim where the undisputed evidence showed that plaintiff was replaced by an individual…

CIVIL - unemployment award manifest weight of the evidence reasonable assurance of continued employment existed where adjunct professor received reasonable assurance letter, was on the schedule for the following term, and the university had a long history of continuing employment for adjunct…

R.C. 2711.01, arbitration, R.C. 2711.02, stay of trial pending arbitration, economic duress, procedural and substantive unconscionability. The trial court's grant of appellee's motion to stay the proceedings pending arbitration is supported by the record. Appellant has failed to demonstrate the…

The common pleas court did not err by reversing a township board of zoning appeals' decision conditioning its approval of a conditional use permit on the permanent closure of one of two access points onto the applicant's property where the additional condition imposed by the board was arbitrary and…

CIVIL - wrongful death summary judgment expert report ultimate issue Evid.R. 704 common knowledge of the jury speculative Evid.R. 702 inadmissible political subdivision school district employees exception to statutory immunity malicious purpose, in bad faith, or in a wanton or reckless manner.

The issue in this interlocutory appeal is whether an employer, who did not use an automated external defibrillator (AED) to assist an employee who suffered a non-work related medical emergency, can be liable for workers' compensation benefits. An employee collapsed at work because of a medical…

Plaintiff in the Court of Claims entitled to damages for unlawful contract termination at state university because of improper tenure review process caused by Provost's blatant refusal to abide by university rules or employment contract provisions. Plainitff retained a continued right to employment…

We granted the Tenn. R. App. P. 9 application for interlocutory appeal in this case to consider whether a healthcare provider can use Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-11-272, ("the peer review statute"), to claim privilege and exclude evidence that an employee was threatened with dismissal or retaliation if…

NEGLIGENCE – NEW TRIAL – R.C. 2307.23 – EMPTY-CHAIR DEFENSE: In a wrongful-death action brought by the surviving spouse of a utility worker who died when a rotted utility pole collapsed on him, the trial court did not err in denying the pole inspection company's motion for judgment as a matter of…

A 62-year-old former employee of the Macon County School System sued the Board of Education on the grounds of age discrimination and retaliation under the Tennessee Human Rights Act. She alleged that her supervisor, the school principal, made age related discriminatory remarks and demoted her after…

R.C.2744 Immunity Negligent Hiring: Supervision and Retention of Employees

In this appeal, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants conspired to prevent new cars sold in Canada from being imported into Tennessee and the rest of the United States in violation of Tennessee's antitrust and consumer protection laws. The plaintiffs contended that new car prices in Canada are…

Wife died in an automobile collision with Hierro, an employee of Barron's Oilfield Services, Inc. (Barron's). At the time of her death, Wife was married to Husband and had no children. A law firm filed a wrongful death action on Husband's behalf, naming Barron's and Hierro as defendants. However,…

The trial court did not err by entering summary judgment for Appellees on Appellant's claim for workers' compensation benefits for injuries sustained in an assault. Appellant did not receive his injuries "in the course of" his employment, and the injuries did not "arise out of" his employment.…

Negligence independent contractor frequenter open and obvious. Owner of premises had no duty to warn independent contractor of dangers posed by unguarded fan because the evidence showed that the independent contractor was aware of the unguarded fan and nevertheless put his hand into the fan to…