WPC # VU:a % 0(b w  4 0J 0Tb 0^ 0h 0r| 0| 0j 0 1u 0d U*Y B) DC AM <U67 Bmv~v D3 0@ AON 0Dc D/ BHP LaserJet 4Si/4SiMX PS 600dpiPSCRIPT0 ,rAZ"Arial RegularX($- -Ӏ  # #D z3|x 2 0Indent123  2" 0Indent20 23  2, 0Indent30 0 23  26 0Indent40 0 0 23  2@ 0Indent50 0 0 0 23  2J 0Indent60 0 0 0 0 23  2T 0Indent70 0 0 0 0 0 23  2^ 0Indent80 0 0 0 0 0 0 23   ?AGMSYaioIndent0I.A.1.a.(1)(a)i)a)P 8Mac DefaultMac Default ` X<  9p`(Arial% Line 7 d 7Border 1dd-!C << G !  #d#     YYY FILEDXDecember6,1996CecilW.CrowsonAppellateCourtClerk  <  9p`(Courier New dPtPtHH(FG(HH(d'hStyl{WP}01  HH  2$HH  Geneva  <Px443!#4$*$$*$ KK  Geneva  Geneva .,6 Geneva   inion Geneva  inion Geneva %%%%'dxd("$    -C<< CLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5($$   1  ' dxdP Pd ! .          \RA'\\RA'\7ǒXXdd7    CHARLESE.GREER,   )      ) Plaintiff/Appellant,   )      ) AppealNo.      ) 01A019604CH00150VS.      )      ) DavidsonChancery      ) No.953639IIIR"#!A1-j|2`  `@RCORRECTIONSCORPORATION )OFAMERICA,etal.,   )      ) Defendants/Appellees.  )@ COURTOFAPPEALSOFTENNESSEE@ MIDDLESECTIONATNASHVILLEAPPEALEDFROMTHECHANCERYCOURTOFDAVIDSONCOUNTYATNASHVILLE,TENNESSEETHEHONORABLEROBERTS.BRANDT,CHANCELLORCHARLESE.GREER,#003208SouthCentralCorrectionalCenterP.O.Box279,XD109Clifton,Tennessee384250279 ProSe/Plaintiff/AppellantTOMANDERSONFRANKIEK.STANFILLP.O.Box900Lexington,Tennessee38351 AttorneysforDefendants/Appellees@ REVERSEDANDREMANDED       BENH.CANTRELL,JUDGECONCUR:TODD,P.J.,M.S.KOCH,J.  @ OPINION X  AninmateinaTennesseeprisonoperatedbyCorrectionsCorporationofAmericafiledacomplaintwhichallegedthatprisonguardsemployedbythecorrectionscompanyhadconvertedhispersonalproperty.Thechancerycourtdismissedhiscomplaintforfailuretostateaclaimuponwhichreliefcanbegranted.Wereverseandreinstatethecomplaint.@ I.   CharlesE.GreerwasincarceratedattheSouthCentralCorrectionalCenteratCliftonTennessee,aprisonfacilitymanagedfortheTennesseeDepartmentofCorrectionbyCorrectionsCorporationofAmerica(CCA).OnAugust25,1995,therewasageneralcellshakedowninthesectionoftheprisonwhereMr.Greerwashoused.Duringthesearchofhiscell,Greercreatedadisturbance,andprisonguardsremovedhimfromtheunitandplacedhiminsegregation.InaccordancewithCCApolicy,Mr.Greerspersonalpropertywaspackedupbytheguards,andbroughttohimforobservationfourhourslater.  Mr.Greerclaimedthatfouritemsofwhathecallshis religiousjewelryweremissingfromthepropertybroughttohim.HefiledseveralclaimsforthemissingpropertywithCCAsinternalaffairsofficer,butdidnotreceiveanysatisfaction.  OnNovember201995,Mr.GreerfiledacomplaintintheChanceryCourtofDavidsonCounty.ThecomplaintassertedthatthepropertyclaimwasbroughtpursuanttoTenn.CodeAnn.283105(Section(2)ofthatstatuteestablishesathreeyearlimitationsperiodforactionsinvolvingthedetentionorconversionofpersonalproperty)andthatvenuewasproperinDavidsonCountybecausethatwaswhereCCAhasitsheadquartersandtransactsitsbusiness.CCAandthreeguardswhowereinvolvedinthesearchofMr.Greerscellwerenamedasdefendants.Thecomplaintdescribedthemissingitemsindetailandascribedavaluetoeachone.Theitemsweretwogoldnecklacesandtwogoldrings,withatotalvalueof$579.80.  Thedefendantsdidnotfileananswertothecomplaint,butCCAfiledaMotiontoDismiss.SeeRule12.02,Tenn.R.Civ.P.ThegroundspresentedinthemotionwerethatCCAcouldnotbeheldliablefortheplaintiffslossunderthetheoryofrespondeatsuperiorbecauseithadnoknowledgeconcerningtheallegationscontainedinthecomplaint,andthatthepropervenuefortheactionwasWayneCounty,sincealltheothernameddefendantswereemployedinthatcounty.ThemotionrecitesthataMemorandumofLawwasbeingfiledcontemporaneouslywithit.Howeverthatmemorandumhasnotbeenmadeapartoftherecord.  ThechancerycourtheldahearingonthemotiontodismissonJanuary26,1996.Sincehewasincarcerated,theplaintiffwaivedoralargument,buthesubmittedhisownaffidavitandthatofanotherinmatetosupporthisallegations.ThechancellorsjudgmentwasfiledandenteredonJanuary29,1996.Itreadsasfollows: 0    0    Thepleadingfiledbytheplaintiffentitled PropertyClaimThroughTortofNegligenceandOrdinaryNegligence,whichreliesuponastatuteoflimitationasitsbasis,doesnotstateaclaimuponwhichreliefcanbegranted.Accordingly,thecaseisdismissedattheplaintiffscosts.      Thisappealfollowed.@ II.   Amotiontodismissforfailuretostateaclaimuponwhichreliefcanbegrantedadmitsthetruthofalltherelevantfactsallegedinthecomplaint,butassertsthatsuchfactsdonotconstituteacauseofaction.Rowlandv.Bradley,899S.W.2d614(Tenn.App.1994).Itseemscleartousthat,althoughinartfullydrawn,theplaintiffscomplaintdoesstateaclaimforconversionofpersonalproperty.  Conversionisacommonlawactionofancientoriginforwrongfullytakingpossessionandassumingcontrolofanothersproperty.McCombsv.Guild,Church&Co.,77Tenn.(9Lea)81(1882);McCallv.Owens,820S.W.2d748(TennApp.1991).Italsolieswhereadefendantmayhaverightfullyobtainedpossessionofthepropertyoftheowner,butwrongfullyrefusestoreturnittotheownerwhenlegallyrequiredtodoso.Crocket&Woodsonv.Beaty,27Tenn.(8Hum.)20(1847);Gribblev.Buckner,730S.W.2d630(Tenn.App.1986).  RespondeatSuperiorisalegaldoctrine,alsoofancientorigin,whoseLatinnamemeans LettheMasterAnswer.BlacksLawDictionary,FourthEdition,(1957).Itenablesaplaintifftoholdamasteroremployerliableforthewrongfulactsofitsservantsoremployees,whenthoseactsaredoneinthescopeandcourseofthewrongdoersemployment.Craigv.Gentry,792S.W.2d77(Tenn.App.1990).Parkerv.VanderbiltUniversity,767S.W.2d412(Tenn.App.1988).Thereisnorequirementthattheemployerbeawareofhisagentswrongfulactsinordertobeheldliable,Youngbloodv.Wall,815S.W.2d512(Tenn.App.1991).  CCAhasnotdeniedthattheguardsnamedinthelawsuitareorwereitsemployees,northattheywereactinginthecourseoftheiremploymentwhentheycollectedthepropertyfromtheplaintiffscell.  CCAarguesonappealthatthedecisionofthetrialcourtisentitledtoconsiderabledeference,andthat judgmentssupportedbysomecompetent,credibleevidencegoingtoalltheessentialelementswillnotbereversedbyareviewingcourtasagainstthemanifestweightoftheevidence.Whilethismaybetrue,ajudgmentofdismissalforfailuretostateaclaimuponwhichreliefcanbegrantedisnotbasedonthepresentationofevidencebutonthepleadingsalone.Thereisnoindicationinthechancellorsorderthatheconsideredanymattersoutsidethepleadings.Thusthepresumptionofcorrectnessthatnormallyaccompaniesthefindingsofatrieroffactdoesnotapplyinthiscase.@ III.   Thejudgmentofthetrialcourtisreversed.RemandthiscausetotheChanceryCourtofDavidsonCountyforfurtherhearingandforotherproceedingsconsistentwiththisopinion.Taxthecostsonappealtotheappellee.$       _____________________________       BENH.CANTRELL,JUDGECONCUR:_______________________________HENRYF.TODD,PRESIDINGJUDGEMIDDLESECTION_______________________________%  WILLIAMC.KOCH,JR.,JUDGE  %