Claims Against Local Governments

June 23, 2025

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 Franklin v. City of Memphis, Tennessee, No. W2023-01142-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 14, 2025), the plaintiff was kidnapped and raped at gunpoint. She reported the crime to the local police immediately, but the plaintiff alleged that in the following months the police failed to investigate and pursue the case diligently. The plaintiff asserted in her complaint that the police had information pointing to the perpetrator but failed to make an arrest, and that they failed to process her rape kit in an expedited matter. When the rape kit was processed, the perpetrator was identified and arrested, but by that time he had already kidnapped and murdered another woman.

The plaintiff filed this claim under the Governmental Tort Liability Act (“GTLA”), asserting that the defendant city was liable for the police department’s negligence. The city moved for dismissal, which the trial court granted pursuant to the public duty doctrine of the GTLA. Dismissal was affirmed on appeal.

June 16, 2025

No negligence by coach when cheerleader was injured in stunt.

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

Where a cheerleader was injured while doing a shoulder sit before a football game, the ruling that there was no negligence because the supervising teacher acted with reasonable care was affirmed.

In Wherry v. Obion County Board of Education, No. W2024-00693-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. April 28, 2025), the plaintiff was a cheerleader on her school sideline cheer team. At one particular football game, the cheer coach (who was an English teacher) noticed standing water near the bleachers. She told the cheerleaders not to perform stunts in that area. The coach spoke with TSSAA officials and another adult, who confirmed that the playing surface was safe. The cheerleaders warmed up in the end zone, after which they did not report standing water and had no mud on their shoes. Nonetheless, the coach told them to limit their stunts to a shoulder sit. Immediately before the game, the cheerleaders warmed up the shoulder sit two times with no incident with the coach nearby. When it was time for the team to run onto the field, the plaintiff attempted to climb onto her base to execute a shoulder sit and fell, suffering serious injuries.

The plaintiff and her parents filed a negligence action against the county board of education, alleging that 1) the negligent acts of the coach were the cause of the plaintiff’s injuries and 2) the school district was negligent in its hiring of the coach. After a bench trial, the trial court found in favor of the defendant school board, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.

January 31, 2025

Court of Appeals reverses its overturning of bench verdict in pedestrian knock down case.

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

Where the trial court found the plaintiff more credible in a bench trial surrounding a pedestrian accident, the Supreme Court vacated the Court of Appeals opinion overturning a finding for the plaintiff on her negligence claim. The Court of Appeals subsequently affirmed the negligence ruling, but it vacated the allocation of fault and award of damages for recalculation.

In a memorandum opinion in Easley v. City of Memphis, No. W2023-00437-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 2, 2025) (memorandum opinion), the Court of Appeals affirmed a negligence ruling it had previously overturned. The case involved a pedestrian injury, where the plaintiff was hit by a truck while crossing the street in the middle of the block. The truck was owned by the city and driven by a city employee. The nearest intersection had a crosswalk and was about forty feet away, but the plaintiff did not use the crosswalk.

During a bench trial, the plaintiff testified that the driver had stopped to allow a group of pedestrians to pass, but when she got to the middle of the truck, the truck moved forward and hit her. She also stated that the driver was on the phone and distracted. The driver, on the other hand, testified that he was stopped behind two other cars at an intersection. According to the driver, he began moving forward when the car in front of him moved forward, and the plaintiff stepped suddenly into his path.

November 4, 2024

Summary judgment affirmed in car wreck caused by road washout and sinkhole

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

Where plaintiff did not have sufficient evidence of notice of the washout and sinkhole on a road, summary judgment for the county was affirmed.

In Roberts v. Carter, No. W2023-01316-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 7, 2024) (memorandum opinion), plaintiff filed suit after having a car accident on a county road due to a sinkhole and washout. Although the Court of Appeals had overturned an earlier grant of summary judgment, in this memorandum opinion it affirmed the ruling that plaintiff had not presented sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact as to notice.

Plaintiff’s complaint cited three sections of the GTLA, but on this appeal, only the claim under Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-20-203 was addressed in plaintiff’s brief. Pursuant to that section of the GTLA, immunity for a governmental entity may be removed “for an injury caused by a defective, unsafe, or dangerous condition of any street…owned and controlled by such governmental entity,” but only if the governmental entity had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition. Here, plaintiff admitted that the county did not have actual notice of the washout, so the issue was whether plaintiff had enough evidence to show constructive notice.

October 28, 2024

GTLA Plaintiff Verdict Affirmed in Garbage Truck / Pedestrian Case

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

Where the trial court found plaintiff credible, and defendant city presented no material countervailing evidence, a GTLA verdict for plaintiff was affirmed.

In a memorandum opinion in Clay v. Memphis Sanitation Division, No. W2023-00519-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 1, 2024) (memorandum opinion), plaintiff filed suit under the GTLA based on an injury he received while standing near a garbage truck. Plaintiff was a contractor completing a home improvement project at a client’s home. The project included replacing a door. Plaintiff placed the old door on the curb next to a garbage can, but later remembered that the door had an alarm sensor. When he went outside to retrieve the sensor, the garbage truck came by.

According to plaintiff, one of the workers engaged him in a conversation about a potential project. Plaintiff testified that he had his back to the truck, and a second worker put the door into the truck and started the compactor. When the compactor started, the door rose and struck plaintiff in the head.

April 3, 2024

Assault and battery summary judgment reversed.

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

Where video footage involving an altercation between a high school basketball coach and a student from another school was open to more than one interpretation, summary judgment for the coach on the student’s assault and battery claims was reversed.

In Kelley v. Root, No. W2022-01625-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 29, 2024), plaintiffs were a high school student and his mother, and plaintiff student had been involved in a multi-person altercation between two opposing high school basketball teams. Video of the altercation showed defendant coach making contact with the student, and the student then losing his balance, falling, and injuring himself. While the coach maintained that he was separating plaintiff student from one of his own players and used no more force than necessary, the student argued that the coach “became an active participant in this fight and forcefully punched [the student].”

Plaintiff filed this case asserting various claims against both the coach and the board of education. The trial court granted summary judgment to defendants on all claims, but the Court of Appeals reversed that ruling as to the claims for assault and battery against the coach.

March 27, 2024

Summary judgment required based on public duty doctrine in GTLA case.

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

Where plaintiffs alleged that defendant town negligently provided traffic control at a public festival, but the duty to provide safe traffic control was owed to the public at large, the public duty doctrine shielded the town from liability.

In King v. Town of Selmer, Tennessee, No. W2023-00390-COA-R9-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 8, 2024), plaintiffs filed suit after their two relatives were hit by a car and killed during a public festival in defendant town. The town had helped organize the event in partnership with several other entities. The town developed a traffic-control plan, which included using barrels and sawhorses to block certain streets and create a pedestrian-only zone. During the festival, a 91-year-old man drove through the barricades and hit the plaintiffs’ relatives, killing them.

Plaintiffs filed this GTLA suit against the town, alleging that it was negligent in developing the traffic control plan. Plaintiffs also asserted a joint-venture claim against the town. Defendant town moved for summary judgment based on the public duty doctrine, which the trial court denied, but the Court of Appeals reversed that denial.

February 23, 2024

Gross negligence GTLA claim against 911 board can proceed.

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

Where plaintiff filed suit against several governmental entities, including an emergency 911 board, based on the failure of the multiple entities to respond to and close a road that suffered a mudslide in a timely manner, the public duty doctrine barred plaintiff’s claims against two of those entities. For the claim against the 911 board, however, immunity was removed by plaintiff’s claim of gross negligence pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-20-108, and the claim fell within an exception to the public duty doctrine, allowing plaintiff to proceed against that defendant only.

In Lawson v. Hawkins County, No. E2020-01529-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 5, 2023), plaintiff filed a GTLA claim after her husband was killed when his car rolled down a mountain after a portion of highway on the mountain was washed away by a mudslide. On the night of the accident, a driver called 911 to warn that the road was washed away at 12:58 a.m. A sheriff’s deputy arrived at the scene at 1:13 a.m., who then called 911 again to discuss the situation. Neither the deputy nor the dispatcher suggested closing the road. The 911 dispatcher placed several calls to various agencies, but at around 1:46 am, the deputy called 911 again reporting that plaintiff’s husband’s car had flipped down the mountain. Shortly thereafter, the deputy stated that a second car had gone down the mountain, at which time the dispatcher stated that she would ask a neighboring county to block the road.

The trial court granted defendants’ motions for judgment on the pleadings, finding that the GTLA “gave defendants immunity from claims alleging recklessness and that the public-duty doctrine independently barred any claims based on negligence.” In its first opinion in this case, the Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the GTLA “did not provide immunity for claims based on gross negligence or recklessness.” On appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court, the Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, holding that “when the GTLA removes immunity for negligence, it does so for ordinary negligence only.” The case was then remanded back to the Court of Appeals.

December 20, 2023

GTLA Did Not Remove City’s Immunity for Failure to Inspect Claim.

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

Where a plaintiff’s negligence claim against a city was based on a Tennessee city’s failure to inspect the LED lights on a crosswalk sign, the city retained immunity under the GTLA and summary judgment was affirmed.

In Packard v. Bentley, No. E2022-00982-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Oc.t 23, 2023), plaintiff filed suit against several defendants, including the city of Gatlinburg, after he was hit by a car while using a crosswalk in Gatlinburg. The crosswalk and road were owned by the State, but the city owned a crosswalk sign on the side of the road. After a similar incident many years prior, the city had added LED lights to the sign, but the lights were not operational at the time of plaintiff’s accident.

The city filed a motion for summary judgment, which the trial court granted on three grounds. The Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment, ruling that the city retained its immunity under the GTLA in this case.

October 6, 2023

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

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

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.