New Wrongful Death Opinion: Grant of Summary Judgment to Defendant Upheld on Appeal

The Tennessee Court of Appeals released its opinion in O'Guin v. State, No. M2020-00732-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. July 28, 2021).  Here is the syllabus from the slip opinion:

A patient died after a fall at a state-owned rehabilitation facility. The administrator of the deceased patient’s estate filed a monetary claim against the State of Tennessee for negligently creating or maintaining a dangerous condition on real property. The State moved for summary judgment arguing that the claimant lacked sufficient evidence of causation. The Claims Commission agreed and granted summary judgment to the State. Because the claimant lacked sufficient evidence that the State’s conduct more likely than not caused the patient’s fall, we affirm.

Here is a link to the opinion:

https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/oguin.timothy.opn_.pdf.

NOTE: This opinion offers a good discussion of causation of injury (in this case, death) under Tennessee law.