Day on Torts

October 6, 2023

County retained immunity under GTLA where plaintiff’s claims fell within civil rights exception

Where plaintiff filed suit against a county based on an alleged sexual assault by a county employee that occurred when minor plaintiff was detained at the county’s juvenile detention center, the trial court’s ruling that the county “retained immunity under the Governmental Tort Liability Act because the claims against the county arose out of civil rights claims” was affirmed.

In Betty H. v. Williamson County, No. M2022-00300-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 14, 2023), plaintiff filed suit asserting multiple claims against the county and county employees. Plaintiff alleged that while she was detained at the county’s juvenile detention center, a county employee sexually assaulted her two times. Plaintiff eventually voluntarily dismissed the claims against the county employees but moved forward with her claims against the county.

After discovery, the county filed a motion for summary judgment based on several grounds. The trial court granted the motion, ruling that plaintiff’s claims arose out of civil rights claims and that the county therefore retained immunity under the GTLA. The trial court made additional findings as well, but the Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment based solely on the immunity provided by the GTLA.

October 4, 2023

Malicious prosecution and abuse of process summary judgment affirmed.

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Where plaintiff filed an action for malicious prosecution and abuse of process based on a criminal theft case, summary judgment for defendant was affirmed. A grand jury indicted plaintiff of the theft charges, which created a rebuttable presumption of probable cause for purposes of the malicious prosecution claim, and plaintiff was unable to prove the elements of her abuse of process claim.

In Christmas v. Kington, No. E2022-00699-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 25, 2023), plaintiff and defendant had previously been in a romantic relationship. At two different times, defendant filed civil suits against plaintiff based on the theft of jewelry from defendant’s home, but those suits were both voluntarily dismissed. Defendant also called the local sheriff’s office to report the theft of several pieces of jewelry. Defendant informed the detective that plaintiff’s son had called and informed him that plaintiff had stolen and sold several pieces of jewelry, including a men’s Rolex watch. When defendant went to the store where plaintiff allegedly sold the jewelry, he saw the watch and a few other pieces he recognized.

The sheriff’s office investigated the matter and brought charges, and plaintiff was indicted by a grand jury for theft. Defendant did not testify before any court or grand jury and did not provide documents or records to the grand jury. The criminal charges were eventually dismissed by the State, but nothing in the record indicated that the dismissal was on the merits or based on a lack of evidence.

September 7, 2023

Medical bills excluded from trial due to lack of expert testimony that they were necessary.

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Plaintiffs seeking to introduce medical bills for the purpose of showing damages must present expert proof that that the medical expenses were necessary.

In Holzmer v. Estate of Walsh, No. M2022-00616-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. July 28, 2023), plaintiff sought to introduce her medical bills in support of claimed damages related to a car accident. Defendant admitted liability, and a jury trial was held to determine damages. At trial, plaintiff’s expert physician testified that the treatment plaintiff received was reasonable and necessary, but the physician had not reviewed the bills and did not testify as to their reasonableness and necessity.

Plaintiff had received treatment at three different facilities, and she had witnesses from those facilities testify as to the reasonableness of the bills, including a nurse auditor, an accounts receivable biller, and a senior director of revenue cycle. These witnesses, however, did not testify as to necessity. The trial court excluded the medical bills due to plaintiff’s failure to present expert testimony regarding their necessity, and that ruling was affirmed on appeal.

September 1, 2023

New Article Published Discussing Tennessee’s “Colleague Privilege”

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The Tennessee Bar Journal has just published my article, “Tennessee Supreme Court Creates the “Colleague Privilege.” The article discusses the implications of a brand-new privilege which provides that “a defendant healthcare provider cannot be compelled to provide expert opinion testimony about another defendant provider’s standard of care or deviation from that standard,” and that this holding “stands regardless of any supervisory relationship between the providers.”

August 31, 2023

HCLA plaintiff failed to establish breach of standard of care.

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Where an HCLA plaintiff failed to establish a breach of the applicable standard of care, the Claims Commissioner’s ruling for the State was affirmed.

In Black v. State, No. M2022-00399-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. July 25, 2023), plaintiff filed suit on behalf of her husband, who died after a short stay in a skilled nursing facility owned and operated by the State of Tennessee. When the husband was admitted to the facility, he was 84-years-old and suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and many other health complications.

Plaintiff visited her husband every day in the facility, and on December 29, 2016, she told the staff that she suspected he had a urinary tract infection. The facility staff ran a test, which was negative, and created care plans for the husband the next day. Four days later, the facility staff completed a more detailed assessment of the husband’s condition and care needs. Four days after this assessment, the husband was taken to the emergency room, where he was found to be suffering from septic shock and aspiration pneumonia. Approximately two weeks later, the husband died at the hospital.

August 18, 2023

HCLA abrogates operation-of-law exception for vicarious liability claims in health care liability actions.

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Where “application of the operation-of-law exception would bar a vicarious liability claim that is timely filed within the [HCLA’s] extended statute of limitations solely because the statute of limitations had expired for any claims against the principal’s agents, the exception must give way to the [HCLA].”

In two nearly identical opinions, the Tennessee Supreme Court addressed the interplay between claims for vicarious liability, common law exceptions to the ability to assert vicarious liability claims, and the HCLA. In Ultsch v. HTI Memorial Hospital Corp., No. M2020-00341-SC-R11-CV (Tenn. July 20, 2023) and Gardner v. Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital, No. M2019-02237-SC-R11-CV (Tenn. July 20, 2023), the Supreme Court held that a vicarious liability claim filed within the 120-day extension of the statute of limitations could proceed against a principal, even when the relevant agents were not named as defendants, were not given pre-suit notice and thus not subject to an extended statute of limitations, and were barred from being sued by the statute of limitations at the point the complaint was filed against the principal.

In both cases, the plaintiff sent pre-suit notice to the hospital at which they were treated, but did not send pre-suit notices to any agents of said hospitals. The statute of limitations as to claims against the hospitals were extended 120-days pursuant to the HCLA, and the plaintiffs filed their vicarious liability claims against the hospitals beyond the one-year mark but before the 120-day extension had run.

August 9, 2023

Summary judgment overturned where minor was killed while drinking and driving.

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Where plaintiff created issues of genuine material fact regarding the potential liability of various defendants in the death of his minor son, who was killed while drinking and driving, summary judgment for most defendants was reversed. Further, the Court of Appeals found that the question of whether the decedent was “at least 50% at fault for comparative fault purposes [was] a question not properly resolvable at this summary judgment stage under the facts of this case.”

In Benbow v. L&S Family Entertainment, LLC, No. M2022-00491-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. July 12, 2023), plaintiff brought suit after his minor son, who was 20-years-old, died while drinking and driving. Plaintiff asserted that various defendants were negligent in the course of the evening that decedent died.

Decedent was out with a friend on the night he died, and that friend was 21-years-old. Plaintiff presented evidence that at defendant restaurant the server carded the friend but not decedent, and then brought a pitcher of beer and two cups to the table; that decedent and his friend appeared intoxicated when they arrived at defendant bowling alley; that a worker at defendant bowling alley carded the friend but not decedent, yet provided a pitcher of beer and two cups; that decedent and his friend went to a bar after the bowling alley, and that at that bar decedent’s debit card was used to buy drinks; that the friend’s mother came to the bar and that video evidence showed her possibly buying drinks that were then given to decedent; that the mother helped decedent into a car to be driven home; that decedent and the friend ended up going to the friend’s house; and that the friend and his father got into an argument, whereupon decedent drove himself away from the house and got into the fatal accident.

July 31, 2023

HCLA Plaintiff Cannot Get Benefit of 120-Day Extension When Filing Action Under Savings Statute

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Where an HCLA plaintiff has previously given pre-suit notice, utilized the 120-day extension of the statute of limitations provided by Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-26-121, filed suit, voluntarily dismissed the action, then chosen to refile pursuant to the savings statute, that plaintiff is not entitled to rely on the 120-day extension when refiling. Instead, the action must be re-filed before the expiration of the one-year period for filing granted under the savings statute.

In Richards v. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, No. M2022-00597-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. July 11, 2023), plaintiff filed an HCLA case in 2014. When filing that case, plaintiff gave defendant proper pre-suit notice and relied on the 120-day extension of the statute of limitations provided by Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-26-121(c). Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed that action on October 4, 2019, then gave pre-suit notice again and refiled his complaint on January 28, 2021. When refiling under the savings statute, plaintiff again relied on the 120-day statute of limitations extension provided by the HCLA.

Defendant filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that pursuant to the language of the statute, plaintiff was only entitled to utilize the 120-day extension in the original action. The trial court agreed, granting dismissal, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.

July 14, 2023

Judgment for defendant in GTLA negligence case affirmed.

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Where a defense verdict in a GTLA bench trial was based largely on credibility, the verdict was affirmed on appeal.

In Ware v. Metro Water Services, a Division/Agency of Metropolitan Government of Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, No. M2022-01114-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 30, 2023), plaintiff filed a GTLA case after she fell “due to an unsecure water meter valve cover” in her sister’s yard. During a bench trial, the evidence focused largely on the practice and habit of Metro employees in closing a water meter valve cover when they finished working on it. The evidence showed that the water meter plaintiff fell into had been serviced in July before plaintiff’s fall in September, and plaintiff asserted that said employee had been negligent by not properly recovering the meter.

The employee who performed that work in July testified that he had worked for Metro for over 19 years and typically worked on about 4,000 work orders per year. He testified that he always secured the cover before leaving a job, and that he always put his foot on the lid, stomped on it, and walked away by stepping on it. He testified that there was no doubt in his mind that he had secured the cover in question.

July 12, 2023

Actual damages not required for intrusion upon seclusion claim.

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

A Tennessee plaintiff asserting a claim for invasion of privacy based on intrusion upon seclusion was not required to show actual damages, as actual damages are not an essential element of an intrusion upon seclusion claim.

In Jones v. Life Care Centers of America d/b/a Life Care Center of Tullahoma, No. M2022-00471-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 16, 2023), plaintiff was a resident at defendant nursing home, and she brought this case through her conservator based on her naked body being exposed during a video call made by a nursing home employee. Plaintiff, who was cognitively limited, was being assisted in showering by defendant’s employees. One of the employees received a video call from her boyfriend, who was incarcerated, and the employee propped the phone on a shelf and continued helping plaintiff. During the call, plaintiff’s naked body was seen on the video feed. A sheriff’s department employee was monitoring the phone call and noticed that plaintiff could be seen, and defendant was accordingly alerted. Although plaintiff was admittedly unaware that she had been exposed, and never became aware, her daughter/ conservator was informed, and this suit was filed.

Plaintiff’s initial complaint asserted a claim of “Negligence Pursuant to the Tennessee Medical Malpractice Act” and a general claim for invasion of privacy. After defendant filed a motion for summary judgment, plaintiff filed a motion seeking to amend her complaint to assert claims for invasion of privacy based on intrusion upon seclusion and negligent supervision. The trial court granted summary judgment to defendant, finding that plaintiff could not “prove the existence of any cognizable injury or damages from the incident,” and it denied plaintiff’s motion to amend, ruling that a claim for invasion of privacy requires actual damages and thus the amendment would be futile. On appeal, those rulings were reversed.