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Tennessee Valley Authority whistleblowers sue agency in federal court
Three former Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear oversight managers who were removed from their posts after alerting the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to repeated safety concerns and violations are now suing the utility in federal court. Melody Babb, Deanna Fultz and Mark Richerson filed suit against TVA late last week in U.S. District Court. They contend […]
Tennessee Supreme Court hears arguments over Kingston coal ash illnesses in workers
With workers twice rejecting settlement offers and federal court judges shooting down multiple appeals, Jacobs Engineering Inc., on Wednesday turned to the Tennessee Supreme Court in an attempt to escape financial responsibility for its role in the alleged poisoning of the Kingston coal ash disaster workforce. Sickened Kingston disaster workers and survivors of workers who […]
After eight months, investigation finds Hardeman County inmate was murdered by other inmates
Eight months after his son left a private prison in West Tennessee in a body bag, Eddie Tardy still doesn’t know why. “He did wrong, and he was in prison for it,” Tardy told the Tennessee Lookout. “He was doing his time. He was telling me he was done (with crime). He was ready to […]
A mother’s lawsuit alleges Hawkins County schools didn’t stop racist attacks
The mother of a Hawkins County eighth-grader says in a lawsuit filed this week that her son was repeatedly subjected to racially-motivated attacks, and the school system did nothing to stop them. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Greeneville Tuesday, details a slew of racially-motivated attacks by white students, at least three of […]
Sullivan County woman claims sheriff’s deputies retaliated after she insisted on masks
A 61-year-old woman claims in a lawsuit filed Friday she was roughed up, left inside a sweltering cruiser and falsely accused because she insisted Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office deputies don face masks while speaking to her. Attorney James Friauf on Friday filed a civil-rights lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Greeneville on behalf of Robin […]
Appeals court revives girls’ videoed sexual abuse lawsuits against Nashville schools
A divided federal appellate court on Thursday resurrected a lawsuit filed against Metro Nashville Public Schools by the parents of two students who were sexually assaulted and videos of their attacks posted online in two different incidents at two different high schools. A two-judge panel of the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals struck down […]
6th Circuit shoots down immunity for TVA coal ash spill contractor Jacobs Engineering
A federal appellate court on Wednesday struck down a last-ditch appeal by a Tennessee Valley Authority contractor accused in the mass poisoning by radioactive coal ash waste of the utility’s Kingston disaster workforce. The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Jacobs Engineering Inc. cannot ride the coattails of TVA governmental immunity because TVA itself […]
Food City seeks to spread blame in opioid lawsuit brought by Tennessee Attorney General
When a Bearden homeowners association blew the whistle on the high levels of opiates a Food City grocery store pharmacy was shelling out to pill mill patients, the company’s chief executive officer called it a lie. When a Knoxville weekly newsmagazine reported the Westwood Homeowners Association’s claims and exposed a slew of opiate-related crimes in […]
‘I smell marijuana’: cops’ warrantless searches targets poor, minority Tennessee communities
Every day in Tennessee and across the country, citizens are being stopped, searched and seized solely on the power of three words: I smell marijuana. “A whole heck of a lot of cops are going to say today, ‘I smell marijuana,’ ” Knoxville criminal defense attorney Mike Whalen said. Under the law in Tennessee and a […]
6th Circuit Court sacks immunity for Lawrenceburg cop in 2018 shooting
In a rare move, a federal appellate court is stripping a Tennessee cop of immunity in the 2018 fatal shooting of a mentally ill man who stood 30 feet away with a knife held at his side when fired upon. The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals says in an opinion made public late last […]
Tennessee health billing firm accused in court of “cartel-like” behavior
(The story has been updated from the original version to include a response from TeamHealth.) A Tennessee firm that pioneered the outsourcing of hospital emergency medical care now stands accused in courtrooms across the nation of scheming to turn emergency rooms into corporate profit centers through “cartel-like” behavior, including price fixing, legal intimidation, and fraud. […]
Skeptical Tennessee Supreme Court hears Knoxville streaming case
The City of Knoxville faced a skeptical Tennessee Supreme Court Tuesday in its bid to use the judicial system to try to force video streaming providers Netflix and Hulu to pony up cable television franchise fees. “Why did it take so long?” Justice Holly Kirby asked attorney Justin Hawal on why the city waited more […]