PER CURIAM. Marlean Ames sued the Ohio Department of Youth Services under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, asserting claims of discrimination based on sexual orientation and sex. The district court granted summary judgment to the Department, holding that Ames lacked evidence of “background circumstances” necessary to establishing her prima-facie case for her claim based on sexual orientation, and that Ames lacked evidence of pretext for purposes of her sex-discrimination claim. We affirm.

The mother of a 17-year-old girl says her daughter was "body slammed" by two male counselors from Youth Villages after she refused to strip in front of them during an appointment at the Shelby County Health Department and later was beaten by at least 12 counselors at the facility. Youth Villages strongly denies the accusations, and in the case of the first incident, says Alegend Jones was accompanied by two women to the department. According to the Commercial Appeal, Jones went to the facility after her mother asked the Department of Children's Services (DCS) to take over as guardian to help with mental health struggles. Her death was described by the center as an "incident" and "medical emergency." The mother has retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump. DCS says it also is investigating the death.

A Knox County jury found the Defendant, Dominique Michael Byrd, guilty of theft of property and vandalism, and the trial court sentenced him to serve an effective sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days. On appeal, the Defendant argues only that the evidence is legally insufficient to show that he is the person who committed the crimes. On our review, we respectfully disagree and affirm the trial court’s judgments.

A mother and stepfather sued to terminate a father’s parental rights based on the grounds of abandonment by failure to visit and abandonment by failure to support as well as the best interest of the children. The trial court found by clear and convincing evidence that both grounds for termination existed and that it was in the best interest of the children to terminate the father’s parental rights. The father appealed. We affirm.

A federally chartered credit union agreed to purchase substantially all assets of a Tennessee-chartered bank. The Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions objected. He contended that the transaction was prohibited by the Tennessee Banking Act because the credit union was not a bank holding company. So he sought declaratory and injunctive relief to stop the transaction. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the trial court concluded the sale of substantially all of the assets of a bank was not prohibited by the Act. We affirm.

Mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to three of her children. The trial court found six grounds for termination: abandonment by failure to visit, abandonment by failure to support, abandonment by failure to provide a suitable home, substantial noncompliance with a permanency plan, persistent conditions, and failure to manifest an ability and willingness to assume custody. The trial court also found termination of Mother’s parental rights to be in the best interests of the children. Mother raises procedural and substantive challenges to the trial court’s decision. We affirm the judgment of the trial court terminating Mother’s parental rights.

Mike Dunavant, former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Tennessee and former elected district attorney general of the 25th Judicial District, has been named deputy executive director of legal services and policy at the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference (TNDAGC). In his new role, Dunavant will oversee four divisions: Legislative, Legal Services, Training and Child Support. He also will serve as the liaison between Tennessee’s 32 elected district attorneys general and the agencies and officials of the executive and legislative branches. Dunavant first joined the TNDAGC in 2006 when he was elected as the district attorney general for Lauderdale, Tipton, Fayette, Hardeman and McNairy counties. He was reelected in 2014 and served in the position until his 2017 appointment as U.S. attorney. He left that office and joined the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury’s Division of Investigations in 2021. Read more in a press release from the group.

In this interlocutory appeal, all parties agree the employee suffered injuries that arose primarily out of and in the course and scope of his employment. The employee’s immediate employer was not insured for workers’ compensation purposes as of the date of the accident. A contractor for whom the immediate employer was working had a policy of workers’ compensation insurance and has been deemed a statutory employer in this case, but the insurer has filed a declaratory judgment action in another court challenging the validity of that insurance contract. The trial court entered an order compelling the employer and/or the statutory employer to provide ongoing medical benefits to which the injured worker is statutorily entitled, and the immediate employer has appealed, arguing the trial court should have ordered the statutory employer’s insurer to pay such benefits. Upon careful consideration of the record and arguments of counsel, we affirm the trial court’s order and remand the case.

Week of November 27, 2023 - December 1, 2023

Overton County lawyer Joyce Annette “JJ” Oakley died Nov. 30. Services were held yesterday in Livingston. Oakley earned a bachelor of science in nursing in 1972 and a master of nursing in 1980. She taught for many years but then attended the University of Tennessee College of Law, earning a law degree in 1985. Oakley served as president of the Oakley First National Foundation, which provides scholarships to students in need. She also was a member of the Livingston Regional Hospital Board of Trustees and the Cumberland University Board of Trust.