Penny J. White

This case concerned a negligence lawsuit filed by a husband against the owners, operators, and anchor tenant of a Memphis shopping center after his wife was abducted at gunpoint from the parking lot, raped, and murdered by a third-party criminal. The plaintiff alleged that the defendants breached a duty to provide reasonable security measures in the lot, which proximately caused the death. The trial court granted summary judgment to the defendants under the strict limitations on business-owner liability established in Cornpropst v. Sloan, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. The Tennessee Supreme Court granted review to reassess that precedent, examining whether a duty of care exists based on the foreseeability of criminal acts, policy considerations, and the relative ability of landowners versus patrons to implement preventive measures.

torts & liabilitycriminal lawproperty

In Vogel v. Wells Fargo Guard Services, a workers' compensation dispute, the plaintiff, a 73-year-old security guard, suffered a work-related back injury leading to a finding of 100% permanent total disability. The trial court declared unconstitutional the provision in Tennessee Code Annotated Section 50-6-207(4)(A)(i) that caps benefits at 260 weeks for workers injured after age 60, citing equal protection violations, and awarded lifetime benefits instead. The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed, holding that the age-based cap is constitutional as it rationally accounts for social security benefits and age discrimination laws, but found the differential treatment of total versus partial disabilities irrational; therefore, the 260-week limit applies to permanent total disability cases for workers over 60, resulting in an award of 260 weeks of benefits reduced by old-age insurance payments.

labor & employmentcivil rights

The case involved a recipient of AFDC benefits whose benefits were terminated after she reported an inheritance; she petitioned for judicial review of the agency decision under Tennessee's Uniform Administrative Procedures Act and also sought attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 based on a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The trial court denied the state's motion to dismiss the fee request, ruled for the plaintiff on the merits, and awarded fees. The Supreme Court of Tennessee affirmed, holding that the doctrine of election of remedies did not bar combining the state administrative review petition with a federal claim solely for attorney fees, as the requested relief was not inconsistent with or duplicative of any remedy available under the state act and could be awarded when the facts supported enforcement of federal rights even without an explicit § 1983 pleading.

civil rightsprocedure

In Ramsey v. Beavers, the plaintiff sought damages for emotional distress after witnessing his mother's death in a car accident caused by the defendant's negligent driving, even though the plaintiff himself was not physically injured or within the immediate zone of danger. The trial court and Court of Appeals dismissed the claim under the longstanding zone-of-danger rule, which had barred recovery for psychic injuries stemming from harm to a third person. The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed, holding that a plaintiff who sensorily observes the injury or death of a close relative may recover for serious emotional distress if the incident and resulting injuries were reasonably foreseeable. The court replaced the rigid zone-of-danger limitation with ordinary negligence principles that emphasize foreseeability while still requiring expert proof of severe emotional injury and excluding claims based on minor distress.

torts & liability

In this workers’ compensation case, employee Lee Wilkes suffered a facial laceration from a snapped cable while operating equipment at a garbage disposal facility, resulting in a visible chin scar that affected his confidence and interactions at work. He sought medical expenses for reconstructive surgery, temporary total disability benefits during recovery, and permanent partial disability benefits. The trial court awarded nine percent permanent partial disability to the face, coverage for the outpatient surgery as reasonably necessary medical treatment, and associated temporary total disability benefits, but denied attorney’s fees on the medical expenses. The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed, holding that under Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-204, employers must provide medical treatment reasonably required even if the injury does not cause vocational impairment, and that precedent supported compensation for disfiguring scars; the court also upheld the denial of attorney’s fees based on the plain language of the recovery statute. The decision reversed the appeals panel’s contrary ruling on the surgery and benefits.

labor & employment

In Cohen v. Cohen, a divorce case, the Tennessee Supreme Court addressed whether an unvested retirement plan and increased equity in separate real property acquired during marriage qualify as marital property subject to division. The trial court had excluded the unvested retirement benefits but included the increased equity, while the Court of Appeals reversed both holdings. The Supreme Court held that both the value of unvested retirement plans accrued during the marriage and the increased equity in separate real property constitute marital property under Tennessee Code Annotated Section 36-4-121, because the statute includes increases in value of separate property to which spouses contributed and pension rights accrued during marriage, extending to unvested benefits as they are acquired through marital efforts.

family lawproperty