Following news coverage of a unionization effort at one of its stores in Memphis (“Memphis Store”), Starbucks fired seven partners who worked there (“Memphis Seven”). Workers United (“Union”) filed an action with the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”), charging that Starbucks’s firing of the Memphis Seven, and other anti-union actions, violated section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”). Meanwhile, M. Kathleen McKinney, a regional director of the Board, petitioned the district court for temporary injunctive relief pending completion of the Board’s proceedings. The district court found reasonable cause to believe that Starbucks had violated the Act. It also concluded that, because of the chilling impact of the terminations on Union support, some of the requested interim relief, including temporary reinstatement of the Memphis Seven, was just and proper. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Petitioner, Stephen Kares, appeals the district court’s denial of his habeas petition brought pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. In 2012, a jury convicted Kares of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in violation of Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.520d(1)(b). For the reasons set forth below, we reverse in part the district court’s order denying as untimely petitioner’s motion to vacate his sentence but deny Kares’ motion to expand the certificate of appealability (“COA”) to include his merits claim.

This appeal arises from a lawsuit filed by a former CEO seeking funds owed to him from his company and two of its subsidiaries. The trial court awarded summary judgment to the plaintiff. The defendants appeal. We affirm in part, vacate in part and remand for further proceedings.

The plaintiff made a claim for the return of bond money he paid to a private bonding company to secure his release from jail for charges that were pending and then nolled nearly 22 years before the filing of the present cause of action. The trial court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim for which relief can be granted pursuant to Rule 12.02(6) of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. The trial court held that the complaint, giving it the benefit of all reasonable inferences, fails to articulate any facts or legal authority showing a right to relief against the defendant. Further, the court determined that if the gravamen of the claim is a tort action for conversion, the claim was also properly dismissed because it would have accrued long ago and is therefore barred under the applicable one-year statute of limitations. The plaintiff appeals. We affirm.

The defendant-appellant, Eula Beasley, entered a guilty plea in the Davidson County Criminal Court to aggravated robbery (count one) and possession of a firearm with a prior conviction for a crime of violence (count two), for which he received an eight-year sentence for each count with the manner of service to be determined by the trial court. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court ordered these sentences to be served consecutively, for an effective sentence of 16 years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. In this appeal as of right, the defendant contends that the trial court erred in imposing consecutive sentences. Upon our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

An inmate at the Hamilton County jail was charged yesterday with making threats to bomb the federal building in Chattanooga and the courtroom of General Sessions Court Judge Gary Starnes, reports the Chattanoogan.com. An investigation into calls Robert Edward Millsaps made from the jail also revealed death threats against a local bonding agent as well as the public defender's office. Investigators found that Millsaps has had 14 cases go before Judge Starnes dating back to 2020.

Quinton Thompson, president of the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and an attorney at the Memphis office of Morgan & Morgan, has earned a place among the American Bar Association’s On the Rise – Top 40 Young Lawyers. Congratulations! Learn more about the recognition program.

Several members of the Tennessee legal community have been selected to take part in Leadership Tennessee, a collective with a mission to foster non-partisan dialogue on issues of state importance. The organization recently announced that 48 individuals will join its 2023–2024 Signature Program and 30 individuals will join its fall Leadership Tennessee NEXT Program. Representatives from the legal community participating in the Signature Program include Noni Ellison, general counsel for Tractor Supply Company; Ignacio Vincentelli, general counsel for International Paper; and Lynda Hood, executive director of the Chattanooga Bar Association. L. Maverick Flowers, an associate attorney with Polsinelli, will participate in the NEXT Program. 

David L. Flitcroft, a lawyer based in Oak Ridge, died on July 25 at age 74. Flitcroft attended Southern Oregon College and the University of Oregon and earned his law degree from the Tennessee College of Law in 1978. David was a longtime member of both the Anderson County Bar Association and the Tennessee Bar Association. A memorial service will be held in the student building of Fellowship Church, 8000 Middlebrook Pike, Knoxville on Aug. 28. The family will receive friends from 11 a.m. to noon EDT prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

Mary L. Smith was sworn in as the 147th president of the American Bar Association during the ABA’s House of Delegates meeting on Monday in Denver. Smith is the first female Native American president of the world’s largest voluntary bar association. Smith has held many leadership roles in the ABA, including serving as secretary and on the board of governors. She also served as an ABA representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council.