Eden W. ex rel. Evans v. Tarr

517 S.W.3d 691, 2015 Tenn. App. LEXIS 314
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedMay 8, 2015
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 517 S.W.3d 691 (Eden W. ex rel. Evans v. Tarr) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eden W. ex rel. Evans v. Tarr, 517 S.W.3d 691, 2015 Tenn. App. LEXIS 314 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION

Arnold B. Goldin, J.,

delivered the opinion of the Court,

in which Brandon O. Gibson, J., and Kenny Armstrong, J., joined.

This is an action for damages arising from a motor vehicle accident in which a five-year-old child was struck after she ran into a roadway and in front of the Defendant/Driver’s truck in a residential neighborhood in Clarksville. The trial court granted Defendant/Driver’s motion for summary judgment upon determining that [694]*694Defendant did not breach the duty of care as a matter of law. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

The following background facts precipitating this lawsuit are not disputed. In May 2011, Eden W., a five-year-old child, was struck by a Ford super-duty F250 pick-up truck operated by Defendant Thomas C. Tarr (“Mr. Tarr”).1 At the time of the accident, Mr. Tarr was a member of the military and a resident of the army base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.2 The accident occurred on Benwood Drive, a short, unlined residential road in Clarks-ville, Tennessee.

Mr. Tarr entered Benwood Drive behind a truck operated by his friend, Jonathan Wade (“Mr. Wade”). When Mr. Tarr and Mr. Wade turned onto Benwood Drive, a group of ten to twelve children was playing in the road. The children parted to the sides of the road to allow the vehicles to pass. Mr. Wade passed without incident. Mr. Tarr came to a complete stop, honked his horn, and began proceeding slowly down the roadway when Eden ran into the road from the left/driver’s side. As she ran across the road, Eden was struck by the front right/passenger side tire of Mr. TaiT’s truck.

In April 2012, Eden’s mother, Serene Evans (“Ms. Evans”), filed an action for damages acting as Eden’s mother and next friend. In her complaint as amended in October 2012, Ms. Evans alleged that Eden suffered injuries proximately caused by negligence on the part of Mr. Tarr. She asserted claims for common-law negligence and negligence per se under Tennessee Code Annotated §§ 55-8-128, 55-8-134, and 55-10205. Ms. Evans prayed for compensatory damages in the amount of $250,000.00, including past medical expenses in the amount of $56,810.46.

Mr. Tarr answered in February 2013, denying allegations of negligence and “affirmatively averting] that the accident ... was one which was unavoidable given the circumstances ... existing and [was] one for which no legal fault should be assessed.” Following preliminary discovery, Mr. Tarr filed a properly supported motion for summary judgment in January 2014. Ms. Evans opposed the motion in May 2014. After further discovery, in July 2014, the trial court granted Mr. Tarr’s motion for summary judgment. Ms. Evans filed a timely notice of appeal to this Court.

Issues Presented

Ms. Evans presents the following issues for our review:

1. The trial court erred by granting summary judgment when it applied the incorrect standard of care applicable to drivers in the presence of children.
2. The trial court erred by granting summary judgment notwithstanding the existence of genuine disputes of material fact and the inferences therefrom that create a question for the jury of whether the Defendant breached the applicable standard of care.

Standard of Review

Tennessee Code Annotated § 20-16-101 (Supp. 2014) governs the award of sum[695]*695mary judgment in this case. The section provides:

In motions for summary judgment in any civil action in Tennessee, the moving party who does not bear the burden of proof at trial shall prevail on its motion for summary judgment if it:
(1) Submits affirmative evidence that negates an essential element of the non-moving party’s claim; or
(2) Demonstrates to the court that the nonmoving party’s evidence is insufficient to establish an essential element of the nonmoving party’s claim.

Under the statute and Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 56.04, summary judgment is appropriate only if the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law based on the undisputed facts. E.g., Reelfoot Utility Dist. v. Samburg Utility Dist., No. W201301952-COA-R3-CV, 2014 WL 4243580, at *4 (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 27, 2014) (perm. app. denied Jan. 20, 2015) (citing Tenn. R. Civ. P. 56.04). “ ‘Generally speaking, a defendant moving for summary judgment may avail itself of one of two avenues: it may negate an essential element of the nonmoving party’s claim, or it may establish an affirmative defense, such as the statute of limitations, that defeats the claim.’” Doyle v. Town of Oakland, No. W2013-02078-COA-R3-CV, 2014 WL 3734971, at *2 (Tenn. Ct. App. July 28, 2014) (quoting Allied Sound, Inc. v. Neely, 909 S.W.2d 815, 820 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1995)). Summary judgment under Rule 56.04 is appropriate only if “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law[,]” regardless of which avenue the moving party pursues. Id. (citation omitted). We review a trial court’s award of summary judgment de novo upon the record with no presumption of correctness. Moore v. State, 436 S.W.3d 775, 783 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2014) (citation omitted).

Discussion

The plaintiff in an action for negligence, which is generally defined as the failure to exercise reasonable care, must establish five essential elements: “(1) a duty of care owed by defendant to plaintiff; (2) conduct below the applicable standard of care that amounts to a breach of that duty; (3) an injury or loss; (4) cause in fact; and (5) proximate, or legal, cause.” Giggers v. Memphis Housing Authority, 277 S.W.3d 359, 364 (Tenn. 2009) (quoting McCall v. Wilder, 913 S.W.2d 150, 153 (Tenn. 1995)). The element of duty “is the legal obligation of a defendant to conform to a reasonable person’s standard of care in order to protect against unreasonable risks of harm.” Id. (citations omitted). “ ‘[T]he imposition of a legal duty reflects society’s contemporary policies and social requirements concerning the right of individuals and the general public to be protected from another’s act or conduct.’ ” Id. at 365 (quoting Bradshaw v. Daniel, 854 S.W.2d 865, 870 (Tenn. 1993)). The question of whether the defendant owes the plaintiff a duty of care generally is a question of law to be determined by the courts. Id.

The question of whether a defendant breached the duty of care, on the other hand, generally is a question of fact for the finder of fact. Hardeman Cnty. v. McIntyre, 420 S.W.3d 742, 747 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2013).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Johnson v. United States
W.D. Tennessee, 2025
Timothy Lee Malone v. Anthony Viele
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2021
Heun Kim v. State of Tennessee
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2020
Deaudric Halmon v. Lane College
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2020
Matthew Epps v. Mary Sonjia Thompson
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2018

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
517 S.W.3d 691, 2015 Tenn. App. LEXIS 314, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eden-w-ex-rel-evans-v-tarr-tennctapp-2015.