Court Rulings

REPORTED TRIAL OPINION. The court dismisses the sample plaintiffs' claims for overtime compensation. The parties shall file a joint status report by no later than 1/31/2020, in which they suggest a process for the second phase of the litigation. Signed by Chief Judge Margaret M. Sweeney.

The plaintiff sued the defendant for negligence after he was injured in a construction accident on the defendant's property. The defendant claimed that he was not the employer of the plaintiff. Following a trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant and awarded the plaintiff no damages. The plaintiff appeals. We reverse the jury's verdict only as to damages.

The issue in this Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 10B interlocutory appeal is whether the trial court erred in denying a mother's motion for recusal based upon alleged bias due to the court's prior employment of and actions by the guardian ad litem. We find no error in the trial court's ruling.

In this premises liability case, Mr. Priestas, an independent contractor, filed suit against Appellees, the owner/landlord and lessee of a convenience store, seeking damages for injuries he sustained during an attempted robbery at the store. The trial court granted Appellees' motion for summary judgment, finding that: (1) the lessee did not breach its duty because: (a) Mr. Priestas was an independent contractor (b) he was aware of the danger at the store and (c) he was warned that the store had been robbed on several occasions and (2) the owner/landlord was not liable because of the general rule of non-liability of a landlord for harm caused to a third party on leased premises. Discerning no error, we affirm.

The plaintiff, John Ferreira, appealed from the dismissal of his first amended complaint against his former employer, Child and Family Services of Newport County. The plaintiff had asserted claims such as defamation constructive termination discrimination based on disparate treatment, age, and gender pursuant to G.L. 1956 chapter 112 of title 42 and G.L. 1956 § 28-5-7 and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. A hearing justice of the Superior Court granted the defendant's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. On appeal, the plaintiff argued that his first amended complaint fulfilled the purpose of the general pleading rules by providing adequate notice to the defendant of his claims and that he should have been allowed to again amend his complaint. The Supreme Court held that the plaintiff had not sufficiently stated any of the claims he asserted in his amended complaint. The Court also held that the amended complaint was properly dismissed with prejudice because the hearing justice had previously explained the deficiencies in the plaintiff's complaint, but the plaintiff had not rectified the problems when he filed his first amended complaint. Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Superior Court.

This is an appeal from the trial court's denial of a motion to compel arbitration. The subject arbitration agreement was executed in connection with a patient's admission to a nursing home facility and signed by the patient's son. The trial court found that the son lacked authority to bind his mother to the agreement. For the following reasons, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.