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$1.2M settlement reached in feds’ slaughterhouse raid targeting Grainger Co. immigrant workers
A $1.175 million settlement has been reached in a lawsuit over federal agents’ treatment of Latino workers at a Grainger County slaughterhouse, court records show. The proposed settlement agreement was filed late Wednesday in U.S. District Court. It still requires approval from U.S. District Judge Travis McDonough. According to the settlement, the seven Latino workers […]
In lawsuit response, CSX Transportation denies role in Waverly 2021 flood deaths
Blame the record-setting rainfall, not us. That’s the response by CSX Transportation, a national railroad company, to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the families of eight of the 22 victims who died in flash flooding in Waverly, Tenn., in August 2021. “This lawsuit seeks to turn a natural disaster of historic proportions into a […]
TVA sued in worker electrocution death at Bull Run plant; report warned of safety concerns
The Tennessee Valley Authority is being blamed in the electrocution death of a contract laborer at its Bull Run Fossil Plant in Anderson County. A lawsuit on behalf of the estate of Seth Black, a 29-year-old Spring City, Tenn., man who died at the plant in September 2021, has been filed in U.S. District Court […]
Gucci bags, crypto & Vegas vacations: COVID relief scams land public employees in legal trouble
Rhea County’s longest serving executive is headed to federal prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $650,000 in government COVID relief funding and using the cash to buy cryptocurrency. U.S. District Judge Charles Atchley Jr. on Thursday sentenced former Rhea County Executive George Thacker, 59, to 33 months in federal prison for wire fraud. Thacker served […]
Jury shoots down First Amendment claims of former Sullivan County teacher
A federal jury has rejected the free-speech claims of a Sullivan County teacher suspended after parents complained about his expletive-laced social media posts on topics ranging from masking during the COVID pandemic to former President Donald Trump. In what was the first test case of a U.S. Supreme Court landmark decision granting First Amendment speech […]
Suits against East Ridge cops over excessive force and false charges pile up
Allegations against East Ridge, Tenn., police officers of excessive force, retaliatory arrests of bystanders and filing false charges — buttressed by body camera and bystander footage — are mounting, a review of police and court records by the Tennessee Lookout shows. When a 70-year-old bystander questioned East Ridge police officers about their treatment of a […]
Shelby County man pleads guilty for role in U.S. Capitol insurrection
A Tennessee man who breached the U.S. Capitol in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, told law enforcers they were “going to die,” assaulted two officers, smoked marijuana inside the building in celebration, stole a book from a Senate office as a souvenir and made plans to sell footage of his attack after his arrest pleaded […]
Walgreens ignored warnings about overprescribing opioids, Tennessee suit shows
When every pharmacy in Southwest Tennessee refused to fill prescriptions from a McMinnville doctor under probe by federal authorities for peddling opioids to street dealers and addicts, Walgreens barred its pharmacists from rejecting them, records contained in a lawsuit reveal. When Walgreens learned a Dayton, Tenn., prescriber was shelling out opioids and other dangerous drugs […]
Judge rules on trial use of photos in case of Sullivan County toddler Evelyn Boswell
After weeks of wild goose chases in the 2020 search for missing Sullivan County toddler Evelyn Boswell, authorities finally had a solid lead. It came on March 6, 2020, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent Brian Fraley testified Friday at a hearing in Sullivan County Criminal Court, from Evelyn’s grandfather, Tommy Boswell Sr. “We received a […]
Testimony reveals Sullivan County toddler died after being placed in trash can
A Sullivan County toddler whose disappearance more than two years ago drew international attention was “tightly wound” in a blanket and aluminum foil, placed in a trash bag and stuffed — alive — inside a trash can, testimony Friday revealed. Testimony in Sullivan County Criminal Court Friday revealed 18-month-old Evelyn Boswell suffocated inside a trash […]
Christian schools association intervenes in suit against U.S. Department of Education
The nation’s largest Protestant association of Christian schools is joining forces with Tennessee and 19 other Republican states to try to block a Biden administration executive order that seeks to protect LGBTQ students in public schools from discrimination. The Association of Christian Schools International, whose members include 2,000 schools and 60 colleges across the country, […]
Private prison contractor CoreCivic hit with two new lawsuits over inmate deaths
The parents of three inmates who died behind bars in a span of just four months in 2021 are accusing private prison operator CoreCivic of Tennessee of repeatedly placing profits over safety and failing to police its own guards. “CoreCivic needs to be held accountable, and the (parents) intend to do just that,” attorney Janet […]