The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that a lawsuit against a nursing home can proceed even after the death of the plaintiff, Annie Jones. Jones, a resident of Life Care Center in Tullahoma, Tennessee, was involved in an incident in 2019 where a nursing home employee, during a video call with her boyfriend, showed Jones’s nude body unintentionally. This incident led to the invasion of privacy lawsuit filed by her daughter, Calisa Joyce Sons, in Crockett County, alleging intrusion upon seclusion.
Life Care sought to have the lawsuit dismissed by arguing that Jones, due to mental impairment, was not aware of the incident. The trial court initially dismissed the case, but Sons appealed. The Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal after Jones's death. Life Care then requested the Tennessee Supreme Court to dismiss the suit, contending it should abate upon Jones's death.
Under Tennessee law, most tort cases continue after a plaintiff's death, with exceptions for torts affecting the plaintiff’s character. Life Care argued that the intrusion upon seclusion fit this exception. However, the Tennessee Supreme Court disagreed, stating that “she nevertheless had the right not to involuntarily have her nude body put on display.” The Court clarified that the tort did not pertain to the character of the plaintiff, allowing the lawsuit to continue posthumously.
The opinion authored by Chief Justice Holly Kirby in the case "Annie J. Jones, By and Through Her Conservatorship, Joyce Sons a/k/a Calisa Joyce Sons v. Life Care Centers of America d/b/a Life Care Center of Tullahoma" is available on the Supreme Court opinions section of TNCourts.gov.