Transgender Discrimination Held To Be Title VII Violation By Sixth Circuit
On March 7, 2018, in deciding EEOC v. R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc., a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that discrimination against transgender and transitioning status employees is necessarily a violation of Title VII. In Harris, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the “EEOC”) brought a Title VII action against a Michigan Funeral Home alleging that the employer had terminated an employee, Stephens, who was choosing to live as a woman in violation of Title VII. The Funeral Home had a gender-specific dress code, which required men to wear suits and for women to wear dresses, which was
Tennessee Legislature Passes Online Notary Public Act
On April 18, 2018, the Tennessee legislature passed a bill authorizing electronic acknowledgments and online notarizations for certain transactions. This so-called web cam notarization is currently only available in four states. Tennessee will join those stated on July 1, 2019 when the legislation becomes effective. There are a number of other states with pending bills similar to Tennessee’s Online Notary Public Act (“Act”). Under current law in Tennessee, a person must physically appear before a notary to have his or her signature notarized. After the Online Notary Public Act takes effect, a person may “appear” by an interactive two-way audio and
It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone Gets Hurt
“Everyone has a duty to exercise ordinary and reasonable care in light of the surrounding circumstances,” including a group of friends engaging in an athletic activity. White v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson Cnty., 860 S.W.2d 49, 51 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1993). The Tennessee Court of Appeals released a recent opinion remanding a case back to the trial court because the trial court ruled that a cyclist assumed the risk of paceline riding “where it is certainly foreseeable that an accident could occur. . . .” Crisp v. Nelms, No. E2017-01044-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. 2018). In Crisp, five cyclists were
Defense Victory
DRI member Steven C. Huret of Wilson Worley PC in Kingsport, successfully defended an appeal of the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendant. The defendant was the brother of deceased federal postal worker and named as the sole beneficiary on the decedent’s life insurance policy. The decedent’s two children filed a lawsuit to enforce their status as third-party beneficiaries under a Tennessee divorce decree that required the life insurance policy name them as beneficiaries. The defense filed a motion for summary judgment on the basis that the life insurance policy was governed under the Federal Employees’ Group
Wilson Worley Attorneys Obtain Favorable Verdict in Auto Injury Case
Wilson Worley shareholder, Steve Huret, and associate, Katie Steffen, recently obtained a favorable verdict on behalf of their client, who was the defendant in an automobile injury lawsuit. The lawsuit was tried before a jury in one (1) day in Sullivan County Circuit Court. The defendant admitted fault for the car wreck, but she died during the pendency of the lawsuit. The defendant’s daughter, who is the executrix of the defendant’s estate, was substituted as the named defendant. The plaintiff driver alleged that the accident left her with residual neck pain that eventually evolved into numbness and tingling sensations that