The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear three cases in Nashville, Tennessee, beginning at 9:00 a.m. CDT on May 29, 2024. The details of the cases are as follows:
In "Clayton D. Richards v. Vanderbilt University Medical Center," Plaintiff-Appellant Clayton Richards filed a healthcare liability action against Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) related to a procedure performed on August 15, 2013. Mr. Richards voluntarily dismissed the action on October 4, 2019, and refiled it on January 28, 2021, relying on the one-year saving statute in Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-1-105 and the 120-day extension in Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-26-121(c). The trial court granted VUMC’s motion to dismiss, finding that Mr. Richards could not rely on the statutory extension a second time. The Court of Appeals affirmed this decision, and the Tennessee Supreme Court will review whether the statutory extension extends the refiling period for plaintiffs who provided pre-suit notice before filing their initial complaint.
In "Charles Youree, Jr. v. Recovery House of East Tennessee, LLC, et al.", Plaintiff-Appellant Charles Youree Jr., filed a lawsuit against Recovery Solutions Network LLC (RSN) for breach of a commercial lease agreement and obtained a default judgment for $50,000 when RSN failed to pay. Mr.Youree then sought to hold Recovery House of East Tennessee LLC and RHT Holdings LLC liable by piercing the corporate veil after obtaining another default judgment against them which they moved to set aside due to insufficient allegations in the complaint for such claims. The trial court denied their motion; however, the Court of Appeals reversed this decision stating that sufficient facts were not alleged to articulate a claim for piercing the corporate veil.The Tennessee Supreme Court will determine if a defaulting party can have such judgments set aside without showing excusable neglect and if there was an abuse of discretion by ruling that sufficient relief claims were stated.
In "Emergency Medical Care Facilities P.C.v.BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Inc.,et al.", Plaintiff Emergency Medical Care Facilities (EMCF) initially brought its class action against BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (BCBS)and Volunteer State Health Plan Inc.(VSHP)in August2014 but was denied class certification by Circuit Court,a decision upheld by appellate courts.On remand,the trial court allowed EMCF voluntary dismissal without prejudice.EMCF refiled in Davidson County Chancery Court but faced dismissal based on collateral estoppel barring relitigation.The appeals court reversed stating nonsuiting claims vitiated prior interlocutory class-certification holdings.Tennessee Supreme Court will decide whether collateral estoppel applies under these circumstances preventing refiling post-voluntary nonsuit.
Media members planning to attend oral arguments should review Supreme Court Rule 30 and file any required requests.
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