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Day on Torts

Updated:

Golf considered recreational activity under TRUS.

The defendant city was immune from suit under the Tennessee Recreational Use Statute for the plaintiff’s personal injuries incurred while he was playing golf on a city golf course. In Bates v. City of Chattanooga, No. E2024-00857-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 4, 2025), the plaintiff fell down steps while playing…

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Sanctions against the plaintiffs affirmed in TPPA dismissal.

Where the trial court granted a TPPA motion to dismiss on two grounds, but the plaintiffs addressed only one of the grounds in their appeal, dismissal was affirmed. In Black v. Baldwin, No. M2024-00151-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 3, 2025), the defendant’s daughter moved in with the plaintiffs, causing issues…

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No nuisance liability where plaintiff cannot prove a nuisance existed.

Summary judgment for a nuisance claim was affirmed where the plaintiffs failed to provide any evidence beyond their own affirmations that a nuisance existed. In Heatley v. Estate of Gaither, No. M2024-01097-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 29, 2025), the plaintiffs and the defendants lived on two plots of land that…

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Causation ruling on auto accident injury reversed.

Where a trial court’s ruling that a plaintiff’s rotator cuff injury was not caused by a car accident was not supported by the evidence, the ruling was reversed. In Payne v. Shelby County, Tennessee, No. W2024-00641-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 23, 2025), the plaintiff was riding in the front of…

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Dismissal of HCLA case based on unsigned HIPAA authorizations filed with complaint overturned.

Where an HCLA plaintiff filed unsigned HIPAA authorizations with her complaint, but at least one defendant admitted that the HIPAA authorization it received was actually signed, dismissal was reversed. In Buckner v. Complete Wellness Chiropractic Center, No. E2024-00698-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 15, 2025), the plaintiff suffered long-term complications after…

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Nonsuit not allowed after denial of TPPA petition is appealed and remanded

When a trial court’s denial of a TPPA petition for dismissal had been appealed, and the Court of Appeals had remanded the case with instructions for the trial court to enter an order containing sufficient findings of fact and conclusions of law, the plaintiff was not entitled to voluntarily dismiss…

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Plaintiff could not use reckless misconduct special duty exception in GTLA case.

The special duty exception to GTLA immunity did not apply where the police department in question owed a duty to investigate a crime to the public at large, and the plaintiff could not use the reckless misconduct special duty exception because the GTLA does not remove immunity for recklessness. In…

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Dog Bite Statute does not always abrogate common law negligence claim

  A Tennessee dog bite victim who cannot make a successful claim under the Tennessee Dog Bit Statute may not be precluded from pursuing a common law negligence claim. In Hudson v. Gravette, No. M2022-01787-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 8, 2025), the plaintiff was an employee at a dog boarding…

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Intrusion upon seclusion claim survives death of plaintiff.

In Tennessee, a claim for invasion of privacy based on intrusion upon seclusion does not abate when the person whose privacy was invaded dies. In Jones v. Life Care Centers of America d/b/a Life Care Center of Tullahoma, No. M2022-00471-SC-R11-CV, — S.W.3d — (Tenn. April 25, 2025), Ms. Jones was…

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