The ABA Journal explores the legality of nursing homes ejecting patients who are considered undesirable. The Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program found eviction and discharge complaints have increased about 57 percent since 2000. The article highlights a California case where the family of an ousted patient appealed to the health department and won, yet the nursing home still refused to readmit the patient. 

The Washington Post reports the state of North Carolina and the Justice Department filed dueling lawsuits over a state law that bans transgender people from using bathrooms that do not match the gender on their birth certificates. The suits come five days after the Justice Department sent a letter to North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory asking the state to abandon the law. The Justice Department said the law violates civil rights, while the state contends the law is not discriminatory.  

The state Supreme Court today reversed a Court of Appeals decision concerning the cleanup of a landfill that has been discharging pollutants into a Maury County lake. ACC, LLC sought approval in Davidson County Chancery Court for a four-year plan to remove waste causing pollution from its landfill site. Starlink Logistics Inc. contested the plan to remove the waste, arguing the discharge of pollutants from the landfill site onto its property would continue during the removal of the waste. Following a failure to reach an agreement in Chancery Court, the Tennessee Solid Waste Disposal Control Board approved the plan. The Court of Appeals reversed the Board’s decision, saying the board failed to fully consider the other options discussed at the hearing. In a unanimous opinion authored by Chief Justice Sharon G. Lee, the Supreme Court held that the Court of Appeals misapplied the appropriate standard for reviewing decisions of administrative agencies.

The Tennessee Supreme Court adopted an amendment to further clarify disciplinary measures when an attorney receives judicial diversion for a criminal offense. After a period of accepting public comments, the court added the amendment to Rule 9, section 22 of the Rules of the Tennessee Supreme Court, which includes, “…Judicial diversion shall not foreclose the initiation, investigation or prosecution of disciplinary action on the basis of the conduct constituting the diverted criminal offense(s).”

Rutherford County reached a $340,000 settlement with Virgil Gammon, a former Rutherford County deputy chief who claimed he was terminated for “whistleblower activities” regarding the sheriff’s office. Gammon, who is running for sheriff in 2018, reported to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation about Sheriff Robert Arnold's alleged involvement with making money off the sale of electronic cigarettes to inmates. Read more from the Daily News Journal. 

Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III announced on Friday that Tennessee reached a $784.6 million settlement with Wyeth, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pfizer Inc. The settlement will resolve allegations that Wyeth knowingly underpaid rebates owed under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program for the sales of Protonix Oral and Protonix IV between 2001 and 2006. Tennessee will receive an estimated $30.4 million under the settlement.  

Earn six CLE credits while learning about the business and legal impacts of the developing alcohol industry in Tennessee. The Legal Pitfalls of Operating a Vineyard, Distillery and Brewery in the 21st Century will be held June 2, 8:30 a.m. – 4:45 p.m., at the Tennessee Bar Center in Nashville. Lunch will be provided. 

Cell phone records previously revealed University of Tennessee football coach Butch Jones made calls to police and players shortly after an alleged rape involving team members, but the records also show Jones called Knoxville attorney Wilson S. Ritchie. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that within months of the alleged rape, accused former player A.J. Johnson would retain attorneys from Ritchie’s late brother’s firm. Johnson, who along with Michael Williams was indicted for rape in 2015, is also currently employed by Ritchie’s family business. UT athletics department spokesman Ryan Robinson said Friday that Jones and Ritchie did not discuss representation for or employment for Johnson. 

The Tennessean reports Jimmy Haslam, CEO of Pilot Flying J, agreed to be deposed as part of lawsuits claiming the company was involved in a fraud rebate scheme. Haslam’s attorney said that he will only sit for a deposition under specific circumstances, including a provision delaying any deposition until after an 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling. Haslam has denied knowing about the scheme and has not been charged. 

Attorneys Ben Bennett, Andrae P. Crismon and Jeffrey L. Peach joined the race for the newly-created General Sessions Part IV judge seat in Rutherford County, the Daily News Journal reports. Bennett is the founding member of Bennett & Scarlett Law Office in Murfreesboro. Crismon is the managing attorney of Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee’s Murfreesboro office. Peach is the city attorney for the Town of Smyrna. Visit the TBA’s Tennessee Judicial Election Information Center for more information on judicial candidates.