Category: Civil Suits

$750,000: reported Vanderbilt settlement with family of patient killed by RaDonda Vaught

Jason Steen

Former Vanderbilt nurse RaDonda Vaught is scheduled to be sentenced this Friday after being found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the 2017 death of 75-year-old patient Charlene Murphey. Vaught administered the wrong drug to Murphey, bypassing multiple safeguards before injecting her with the same drug used in some lethal injections. Long before that guilty verdict, Vanderbilt Medical Center quietly settled with Murphey’s family for the loss of her life. The family reportedly received a $750,000 settlement from Vanderbilt University Medical Center — a number that was confidential until now.

Sara Evans filed for divorce prior to Jay Barker’s arrest for attempting to run over her with a vehicle

Jason Steen

Musician Sara Evans Barker filed for divorce from former football quarterback and radio personality Harry ‘Jay’ Jerome Barker in August of 2021, citing “irreconcilable differences and inappropriate marital conduct”. Jay was not participating in court proceedings, and Sara’s lawyer last month requested a Nashville Judge to enter a default judgment, granting the divorce according to the terms of their 2008 marriage agreement, which would leave both parties as they came to the marriage, with no additional monies or assets granted to either party upon divorce, and removing either party from any asset claims or distribution upon the death of either party if a divorce occurred.

On January 15th, Metro Nashville Police arrested Harry ‘Jay’ Jerome Barker, charging him with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after they say he got into his vehicle and drove in reverse at a high rate of speed in an attempt to ram a vehicle in which his estranged wife, Sara Evans, was a passenger.

Tennessee Brew Works sues over an anonymous review that was deleted, accusing employee & founder of using ‘N-word’

Jason Steen

Tennessee Brew Works has filed a “John Doe” lawsuit against the person that left an anonymous review, which claimed to overhear brewer Matt Simpson and the company’s founder Christian Spears using the ‘N-word’ during a tour of the brewery. Though the review was posted on social media for a short period of time, it was eventually removed and had disappeared into the ethers of the internet. The company, however, was determined to let the world know it was not racist, and filed a defamation lawsuit against the person, including what was essentially a list of the company’s “black friends” and “POC Events” it and its founders participated in, as evidence it, nor its founders, were racist. They also included the deleted review as an exhibit, which will now be back on the internet, as part of this story.

Musician John Eason says he’s not a pedophile, asks judge to make multiple accusations stop & silence claims

Jason Steen

Attorneys for Country Musician John Eason filed an extraordinary petition in Circuit Court this week in an attempt to silence a number of people that claim he is providing alcohol to, and having sex with, underage girls. Accusations have surrounded the Wilson County singer’s career in recent months, claiming he was grooming young females at Courtney’s restaurant in Mt. Juliet. Social media has been flooded with various messages and accusations, including social media pages, personas, accounts, and entire websites devoted to the accusations.

In an unusual move, a TRO has been sought to silence the individuals being sued over the accusations in an attempt to keep the lawsuit from becoming public, citing that Eason is afraid the parties “may publish the events or communications, the identity of the plaintiff (John Eason), and other material (exhibits) at the center of this controversy… upon receiving notice of the lawsuit”. We have published the entire lawsuit and exhibits, along with other posts gathered from social media and websites in their entirety as a part of this story.

Grindr: Fisk President accused of drugging man after gay hook-up; Placed on leave from university

Trish Butler

A Nashville magistrate signed an order of protection against Fisk University President Dr. Kevin Rome, Sr. after a man claimed he met Rome via the gay dating app Grindr and testified Rome had drugged him, threatened to kill him and destroyed his apartment.

Scoop Media Group wins redaction lawsuit against Montgomery County

Trish Butler

Chancellor McMillan ruled that the Montgomery County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office must stop the illegal redaction of public information from open records requests. Circuit Court Clerk Cheryl Castle announced her resignation just days after depositions, leaving her elected term unfilled.

Metro Councilman says he’s “not paying” a court-ordered judgment for campaign signs, didn’t even show up for court

Jason Steen

Metro Councilman Jonathan refused to show up for a court date after being served and says he’s “not paying” the judgment ordered by the Judge. He’s left a small business owner out over $7,000 for his campaign signs from the last election, despite repeated promises to make it right.

8-year-old suffers broken clavicle after being ‘restrained’ by MNPS teacher – $8K Settlement

Jason Steen

Metro Nashville has now settled the claim of an 8-year-old that suffered a broken clavicle (collarbone) after being restrained by an Una Elementary School teacher, for $8,000 with the parent of the child.Â