APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

This is an appeal by the petitioners/appellants, Tennessee State Department of Transportation ("TDOT") and Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority ("MNAA"), from a jury verdict and judgment valuing four acres of  condemned property owned by the respondent/appellee, Overnite Transportation Company ("Overnite"), at $1,759,578.10.

This appeal arises out of a paternity action filed by the Plaintiff-Appellee, Bessie Lee King, against the Defendant-Appellant, Davidson Taylor, to establish the paternity of King's minor child, Davene. The action was originally filed in the Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County, but was transferred to Circuit Court after Mr. Taylor requested a jury trial. Mr.  Taylor, Ms. King, and Davene submitted to a blood test. The sworn blood test results, which accompanied Appellee's motion for summary judgment, established that Mr. Taylor had a 99.65% probability of being Davene's father. Relying on both the blood test and T.C.A. § 24-7-112(b)(2) (Michie 1994), the trial court granted Ms. King's motion for summary judgment. Mr. Taylor appeals the decision of the trial court.

This case involves the question of whether a custodial parent may claim the benefit of changes in the child support guidelines promulgated after trial on her Petition for Increased Child Support, but before the trial court filed its Final Order. Because those changes were not raised in the  proceedings below, we decline to act on them here. Instead, we remand  the cause to the trial court for further proceedings.

In this divorce case, Charles Edward Cutsinger (Husband) has appealed the trial court's judgment which awarded Laura Patricia Cutsinger (Wife) a thirty percent (30%) interest as a seller in the contract of sale of Husband's chiropractic practice. Husband also has appealed the trial court's ruling which ordered Husband to indemnify Wife for any judgment that might arise as a result of an indebtedness for a pleasure boat purchased during the marriage.

Defendants-Appellees.This appeal involves a suit seeking recovery under the uninsured motorist provision of a liability insurance policy. Plaintiffs, James R. Fruge and Jane Fruge, appeal from the order of the trial court granting summary judgment to the unnamed defendant-appellee, State Farm Insurance Company.

This appeal involves a suit on a guaranty agreement. Defendant, Douglas Sarmento, appeals from the trial court's order granting plaintiff, Mid-State Advertising, d/b/a "The Nashville Scene," summary judgment. The only issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment.

Plaintiff, Cynthia D. Gentry, appeals from the order of the chancery court that affirmed the final administrative order of the Department of Human Services (DHS). The controversy in this case arose from the receipt by Mrs. Gentry's husband of a lump sum social security disability payment in July, 1991. At the time of the payment, Mrs. Gentry was the recipient of Aid for Dependent Children (AFDC) benefits. DHS determined that the lump sum payment constituted income sufficient to render Mrs. Gentry ineligible for AFDC benefits for a period of four months. Mrs. Gentry was notified by DHS that her benefits would be terminated for four months because of the receipt of the lump sum social security payment.

The sole question presented by this appeal is whether defendant, Frank Dean Owens, is entitled to share with plaintiff, Sherri Mangrum, the proceeds of a settlement for the wrongful death of their minor daughter,  Lisa Michelle Owens.

This matter concerns the custody of Wayne Nicholas Thompson, II, the minor son of Appellee, Sheryl Lynne Hooke (Thompson) ("Mother") and Appellant, Alan Richard Thompson ("Father"). Both parties sought custody pursuant to separate petitions for divorce.1 The final divorce decree awarded custody to Mother, but stated that Father was to have physical possession of the child during the time period in which Mother underwent treatment for alcoholism. The decree provided that upon Mother's completion of a treatment program, physical possession of Nicholas would revert immediately to her. Father has appealed from the trial court's judgment, challenging both the custody award and the trial court's denial of his request to discover Mother's psychiatric records. For reasons hereinafter expressed, we affirm the judgment.

Appellant, Nashville Park Hospitality, Inc. ("Nashville Park"), is the owner of the Budget Lodge, a motel in Nashville consisting of three separate buildings identified as the 100, 200 and 300 Buildings. Ninety-six suites compose the 100 and 300 Buildings, with 92 available to the public and rented on a weekly basis. The 200 Building consists of standard motel rooms which are rented nightly. Appellee, the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County ("Metropolitan Government"), filed suit seeking to enjoin Nashville Park from operating the Budget Lodge in violation of the Hotel, Food, Service Establishment and Public Swimming Pool Inspection Act of 1985, T.C.A. § 68-14-301 et. seq. ("Act").1 After a hearing, the trial court granted Metropolitan Government's application for a permanent injunction, enjoining Nashville Park from operating Budget Lodge in violation of the Act. The court, however, refused to entertain the issue of whether the Act applied to the suites rented weekly,2 citing Nashville Park's failure to first exhaust its administrative remedies. Nashville Park has appealed, challenging that determination by the chancellor. For reasons to be discussed, we reverse that portion of the judgment holding the trial court without jurisdiction to decide the issue prior to an exhaustion of the administrative process.

This appeal involves a dispute over child support for two pre-teen boys. Two years after their divorce in the Chancery Court for Sumner County, the parents returned to court seeking resolution of their disputes concerning the custody and visitation arrangements and the amount of child support. A special judge awarded the mother sole custody of the children, modified the father’s visitation schedule, and directed the father to pay child support in accordance with the child support guidelines. The father takes issue on this appeal with the amount of his child support. We have determined that the amount of the father’s child support should be modified to take all his income into consideration.

This case involves a dispute over child custody and division of marital property as decreed by the trial court in a divorce case.

This appeal arises from the chancery court's reversal of a final order of the Tennessee Civil Service Commission (the Commission). The Commission's final order reinstated Appellant, Frank Mahon, an employee who had been dismissed by the Cocke County Department of Human Services (Cocke County DHS). The chancery court reversed the Commission's final order, finding that the final order was unsupported by substantial and material evidence in the record before the Commission.

Appellants, Terry J. Kyte and Terry F. King, appeal from the judgment entered by the chancery court, affirming the decision of the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Safety (Department) to grant the Department's motion for default in a contested case proceeding concerning the seizure of Appellants' property.

This is a suit by Bonnie Jo Miller against Thomas A. Parker seeking damages for personal injuries as a result of her being struck by an automobile being driven by him.

North American Rayon Corporation appeals a judgment of the Chancery Court for Carter County which upheld a Board of Review determination that Judy Howell was entitled to unemployment benefits incident to her termination by North American Rayon.

This is a suit by Charles William Coulter and Donna Lee Coulter, brother and sister of Linda Diane Rose Hendricks, who died in an automobile accident on April 24, 1994, seeking to have her marriage on April 1, 1994, to Richard Anthony Hendricks, annulled. The Chancellor granted Mr. Hendricks' motion under Rule 12.02( 6) of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure, which contended the complaint failed "to state a claim upon which relief can be granted."