Court Rulings

In this divorce action, Wife appeals the trial court's designation of Husband as the primary residential parent for their daughter. For his part, Husband contends the trial court erred by awarding Wife unsupervised visitation. He also contends the child support award is based on an erroneous determination of the parties' gross monthly income. Finding no error, we affirm.

This appeal concerns a jury award of damages in a negligence case. Suzanne Bishop West ("West") sued Epiphany Salon & Day Spa, LLC ("Epiphany") in the Circuit Court for Hamilton County ("the Trial Court") for damages resulting from a facial she received that burned her face. Epiphany conceded liability and the matter went before a jury for a determination of damages. The jury awarded West $125,000 in damages. Epiphany filed a motion for remittitur. The Trial Court, finding the award excessive, reduced the award from $125,000 to $47,800. West appeals to this Court, asking that we restore the original jury award of $125,000. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the judgment of the Trial Court.

The plaintiffs appeal the grant of summary judgment in a negligence case. One of the plaintiffs, a truck driver, suffered injuries stemming from a collision with another tractor-trailer owned by the defendant and operated by its employee. The plaintiffs claimed that the employee's negligence proximately caused the accident. The owner of the overturned tractor-trailer moved for summary judgment on the ground that the plaintiffs could not establish that its employee‟s conduct fell below the applicable standard of care. The trial court agreed and granted summary judgment. On appeal, the plaintiffs argue, among other things, that owner of the overturned tractor-trailed failed to meet its burden of production in moving for summary judgment. Because we conclude that the movant failed to demonstrate the absence of material facts that would create genuine issues for trial, we reverse the grant of summary judgment.

This is an appeal from a final decree of divorce. The trial court declared the parties divorced, divided the marital property and marital debt, and ordered Husband to pay rehabilitative alimony of $2,500.00 per month for three years, and an award of $20,000.00 for attorney's fees, as alimony in solido. On appeal, Husband contends that the trial court erred in: (1) its division of the marital debt (2) its award of rehabilitative alimony and (3) its award of attorney's fees. Wife requests attorney's fees incurred in defending this appeal. We affirm the trial court's judgment and remand for determination of Wife's attorney's fees on appeal.

Firefighter—Injury—Occupational Disability Benefits—Fire and Police Pension Association—Policemen's and Firemen's Pension Reform Act—Fire Chief—Amended Complaint. Dolan joined North Metro Fire Rescue in 1986, and in 2007, he sustained an injury that prevented him from passing the physical tests for firefighting duties. After approximately two years of attempted rehabilitation, North Metro terminated Dolan. Dolan promptly filed for occupational disability benefits with the Fire and Police Pension Association (FPPA). While working for North Metro, Dolan also worked for the Elk Creek Fire Protection District: he was Elk Creek's paid fire chief from 1998 through 2003 he returned as a volunteer in 2008 and in 2010, he was again hired as a paid fire chief. Dolan initially received disability benefits, but these were later revoked based on a finding that because his position at Elk Creek had involved fire protection, he was ineligible for benefits under the Policemen's and Firemen's Pension Reform Act (the Act). A hearing officer recommended that Dolan repay the benefits he received after he signed his employment contract with Elk Creek in 2010, and the FPPA's Board of Director's (Board) affirmed the recommendation. Dolan filed for CRCP review of the Board's decision in district court and also asserted several common law claims against FPPA. The district court affirmed the Board's decision. Dolan then moved to amend his complaint, which was denied as untimely, and a trial was held on his remaining common law claims. The court found for FPPA and entered final judgment against Dolan. On appeal, Dolan argued that the Board and the district court misapplied the law in discontinuing his disability benefits because, since his termination from North Metro, he was never re-employed in a position directly involved with the provision of fire protection under the Act. Re-employment in a full-time salaried position that directly involves the provision of fire protection precludes a fi

As appellant did not file a memorandum in opposition to appellees' motion or any objection to allegedly non-complying documents in support thereof, the court could consider the same when adjudicating appellee's summary judgment motion. [A] store is not liable for a customer's injuries unless the customer can show: (1) the store, through its officers or employees, placed the substance on the floor (2) at least one of the store's officers or employees had actual knowledge of the presence of the substance and failed to remove it or warn the customer, or (3) the substance had been on the floor long enough that the store officers or employees should have known of its presence and removed it or warned the customer. Appellant did not establish that appellees breached the duty of care owed to her. Judgment in favor of appellee's motions for summary judgment is affirmed.

The Appellant, Wendall Curtis Doree, was convicted by a Perry County Circuit Court Jury of especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, unlawful employment of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous offense, theft over $1,000, and facilitation of vandalism over $1,000. The trial court merged the theft conviction with the aggravated robbery conviction and imposed a total effective sentence of twenty-two years. On appeal, the Appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence sustaining his especially aggravated kidnapping conviction, contending that in light of State v. White, 362 S.W.3d 559 (Tenn. 2012), the State failed to adduce sufficient proof that the confinement of the victim was not incidental to the aggravated robbery and was sufficient, standing alone, to sustain his conviction of especially aggravated kidnapping. Upon review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.