David Banks v. University Of Tennessee

07/30/2018

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT NASHVILLE

May 24, 2018 Session

DAVID BANKS v. UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE

Appeal from the Chancery Court for Davidson County

No. 16-617-II William E. Young, Chancellor

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No. M2017-01358-COA-R3-CV

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The University of Tennessee at Knoxville terminated the employment of Appellant, a

tenured faculty member. Appellant appealed his termination to an administrative hearing

officer pursuant to the Tennessee Uniform Administrative Procedures Act. Following a

contested hearing, the hearing officer upheld the University’s termination of Appellant.

Appellant then petitioned the chancery court to reverse the decision of the hearing officer.

The chancery court upheld the hearing officer’s decision to affirm the termination of

Appellant’s employment and tenure. Discerning no error, we affirm the judgment of the

chancery court.

Tenn. R. App. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court Affirmed

BRANDON O. GIBSON, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which ARNOLD B. GOLDIN

and KENNY W. ARMSTRONG, JJ., joined.

David Banks, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Pro se.

Frank H. Lancaster, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellee, University of Tennessee.

OPINION

I. FACTS & PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Dr. David Banks was hired by the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (the

“University”) in 2006. Dr. Banks came to the University with a distinguished academic

and employment history. Prior to his tenure with the University, Dr. Banks earned his

Ph. D. in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, held a

post-doctoral fellowship at NASA Langley Research Center, was an associate professor

at Mississippi State University, and was a tenured associate professor at Florida State

University. Dr. Banks’ academic background is in mathematics and computer science,

with a focus on applying 3D graphics to scientific and medical data. In 1994, Dr. Banks’

research paper called “Illumination in Diverse Co-dimensions” was published in one of

the top journals in his field, and the topic of this paper has become known as the “Banks

Illumination Model.” Dr. Banks won an award for the best paper in 2003 at the well-

respected Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Visualization Conference. In

2004, Dr. Banks had five refereed journal articles in press or under review. While at

Florida State, Dr. Banks helped found the Visualization Laboratory and was nominated

for four teaching awards. He also brought in millions of dollars in external grant and

contract funding during the decade preceding his move to the University.

In 2004, Dr. Banks interviewed for a joint position with the University and Oak

Ridge National Laboratory. Dr. Banks began his employment with the University in

2006 and was awarded tenure in 2007. Dr. Banks’ position with the University required

that he spend 50% of his time working at the University and the other 50% of his time on

research matters at Oak Ridge. Although Dr. Banks was officially an employee of the

University, Oak Ridge contributed 50% of Dr. Banks’ salary for his work performed at

the Laboratory.

While Dr. Banks seemed to be on an upward trajectory early in his career, he took

a sudden and unexpected turn shortly into his tenure at the University. The record in this

case includes five performance reviews, which generally reveal the unraveling of Dr.

Banks’ employment with the University over the years. In 2007, Dr. Banks received a

rating of “meets expectations” overall but of “needs improvement” in the area of

teaching. The only source of external funding that Dr. Banks contributed to the

University that year was the portion of his salary paid by Oak Ridge. In 2008-2009, Dr.

Banks was rated as “meets expectations” overall and for teaching, but as “falls short of

meeting expectations” for his research, scholarship, and creative activity. Again, his

only source of external funding was from Oak Ridge. In 2009-2010, Dr. Banks was rated

as “needs improvement” and “falls short of meeting expectations” for teaching. The

students’ comments on Dr. Banks’ teaching performance were “very negative,” and he

was not adequately engaging with graduate students. He was also rated as “falls short of

meeting expectations” for his research, scholarship, and creativity. Of particular

importance to the University, Dr. Banks’ supervisor at Oak Ridge requested improved

performance from Dr. Banks on that front as well. The department head evaluating Dr.

Banks noted that he “needs to work with the department head and [Oak Ridge] on a plan

that addresses both UT and [Oak Ridge’s] concerns.” It appears Dr. Banks never

followed up with this plan.

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As Dr. Banks would later admit, during the fall of 2011, he simply stopped

reporting to work at Oak Ridge. In a meeting with University supervisors in February

2012, Dr. Banks attempted to explain his absence as being the result of a family situation

that required him to travel out of town frequently. This explanation, however, came

months after Dr. Banks stopped reporting to work at Oak Ridge and on the heels of

several years of complaints from supervisors at Oak Ridge regarding sub-par

performance. After this meeting with Dr. Banks, University officials made the decision

that, given Dr. Banks’ admission that he was not performing his duties at Oak Ridge, they

could not continue to accept payment from Oak Ridge for half of his salary. As a result,

University officials came up with a plan to pay for Dr. Banks’ entire salary for the next

two years. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Banks received his evaluation for 2011-2012, in which

his performance was rated as “unsatisfactory.” His evaluator noted that Dr. Banks was

“completely disengaged from department activities. He does not contribute to faculty

meetings, nor does he respond to emails or interact with his colleagues in a substantive

way.” His research program was deemed “inactive,” and teaching evaluations were

“poor to marginal.”

This last evaluation constituted Dr. Banks’ third evaluation of “needs

improvement” or worse in a period of five years, which triggered the University’s

“cumulative performance review process” pursuant to University policy. Over the next

several months, multiple levels of University faculty and administrators reviewed Dr.

Banks’ performance at the University, and all but one of these people came to the same

conclusion – Dr. Banks’ employment with the University should be terminated. In the

end, the University Chancellor is the ultimate decision-maker with regard to whether to

institute termination proceedings. See, University Faculty Handbook Section 3.12.1.1.

After his own review of the material related to Dr. Banks’ employment, the University

Chancellor determined that “the only conclusion you can reach [is] that since 2006, [Dr.

Banks] has not been productive at the University of Tennessee and tenure should be

revoked.” On June 17, 2014, the University Chancellor sent Dr. Banks a twelve page

letter detailing his termination for “adequate cause” under the University’s Faculty

Handbook, which included “failure to demonstrate professional competence in teaching,

research, or service,” “failure to perform satisfactorily the duties and responsibilities of

the faculty position,” and a “serious violation of professional responsibility in relations

with students, employees, or members of the community.” The University Chancellor

concluded his letter by stating that termination of Dr. Banks’ tenure with the University

was “the only academically acceptable course of action.”

Pursuant to the University’s handbook, Dr. Banks was afforded two options by

which to contest his termination – a hearing under the Tennessee Uniform Administrative

Procedures Act (“TUAPA”) or a hearing before a tribunal. See, University Faculty

Handbook §§3.12.1.1, 3.12.1.5. Dr. Banks, represented by counsel, chose to contest his

termination by way of a contested TUAPA hearing. To that end, a four-day

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administrative hearing was held, during which an administrative record of more than

4,000 pages accumulated. In that hearing, the University bore the burden of proof, by a

preponderance of the evidence, of establishing that Dr. Banks’ termination was justified

and appropriate. See Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1720-01-05-.01(14)(j). On January 11,

2016, the appointed administrative law judge issued a comprehensive Initial Order, which

determined that the University had met its burden of proving that Dr. Banks was

terminated properly. This Initial Order was upheld in a Final Order by the University’s

Acting Agency Head on May 20, 2016.

Dr. Banks subsequently filed a petition for judicial review of the Final Order. In

his brief in support of his petition for review of agency action, Dr. Banks requested that

the chancery court reverse the decision to uphold the termination of his tenure and

employment after review of the following issues:

A. Did the Acting Agency Head fail to give appropriate weight to

Dr. Banks’ 50% appointment at the University in reviewing his

performance at University of Tennessee under the statutorily

required clear and convincing burden of proof?

B. Did the Acting Agency Head fail to adequately consider the

constructive denial of Dr. Banks’ Faculty Modified Duties

Assignment (FMDA) Request to Dean Davis and Dr. Tomsovic

under the statutorily required clear and convincing burden of

proof?

The chancery court held a hearing on Dr. Banks’ petition on November 9, 2016.

On that day, the court issued a ruling from the bench upholding the agency’s

determination that the University properly terminated Dr. Banks’ employment. The court

entered a written order to that effect on December 29, 2016. According to the chancery

court, “the two narrow issues” raised by Dr. Banks were without merit. The court

concluded that Dr. Banks was incorrect regarding the proper burden of proof relevant to

the University’s decision to terminate him. The chancery court noted that the “clear and

convincing evidence” standard proposed by Dr. Banks from Tennessee Code Annotated

section 49-8-301–304 related to schools governed by the Tennessee Board of Regents

system. However, the court found that the University is not a part of the Board of

Regents system but was created under Tennessee Code Annotated section 49-9-101, et

seq. According to the trial court, under this statutory scheme, the TUAPA applied, and

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1720-01-05-.01(12)(d) provided that in a contested case, the

Petitioner (here, the University) bore the burden of proof by a preponderance of the

evidence that an issue should be resolved in its favor. Further, the court determined that

there was “more than enough evidence in the record to support the [Agency Head’s]

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finding” upholding Dr. Banks’ termination.

With regard to Dr. Banks’ assertion that the Agency Head did not adequately

consider the University’s “constructive denial” of Dr. Banks’ request for a Faculty

Modified Duties Assignment (in light of his family situation that kept him away from the

University), the court held that Dr. Banks had waived this argument by not raising it

before the tribunal below. Even if the argument had not been waived, the court found

that whether or not to approve a Faculty Modified Duties Assignment was squarely

within the University’s discretion and Dr. Banks’ never even made a proper request for

such an assignment in the first place. In all, the chancery court affirmed the University’s

termination of Dr. Banks’ employment and tenure. Dr. Banks has now appealed that

decision to this Court.

II. ISSUES PRESENTED

Dr. Banks presents the following issues for review on appeal, which we have

restated as follows:

1. Whether Dean Katrice Jones Morgan was a proper administrative law

judge?

2. Whether Dean Morgan erred in neglecting to rule on the existence and

scope of Dr. Banks’ contract with the University?

3. Whether Dean Morgan erred in neglecting to consider Dr. Banks’ reports of

plagiarism?

4. Whether Dean Morgan’s initial order to terminate Dr. Banks’ tenured

employment is defective because it did not articulate any particular offense

that met the University’s grounds for termination of tenured employment or

that Dr. Banks committed any such offense.

5. Whether President Katherine High’s final order to terminate Dr. Banks’

tenured employment was defective because it did not articulate any

particular offense that met the University’s grounds for termination, or

because President High engaged in ex parte communications in violation of

the Rules of the University for conducting UAPA contested cases?

6. Whether the chancery court erred in failing to rule on numerous motions

filed by Dr. Banks?

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7. Whether the chancery court erred in determining the standard of review for

the appeal below?

8. Whether the chancery court erred in failing to rule on the existence and

scope of Dr. Banks’ contract with the University?

9. Whether the chancery court erred in determining the University’s

obligations to Dr. Banks pursuant to the Family Medical Leave Act?

10. Whether the chancery court erred in allowing Dr. Banks’ counsel to

withdraw?

11. Whether the chancery court erred by ruling on the case prior to the hearing?

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The process for judicial review of an agency decision begins in chancery court in

accordance with the Tennessee Uniform Administrative Procedures Act. See Tenn. Code

Ann. § 4-5–322(b)(1)(A). When an administrative agency is acting within its area of

specialized knowledge, experience, and expertise, a trial court’s review of the agency’s

decision “is governed by the narrow standard contained in Tennessee Code Annotated §

4-5-322(h) rather than the broad standard of review used in other civil appeals.” Publix

Super Mkts., Inc. v. Tenn. Dep’t of Labor & Workforce Dev., Labor Standards Div., 402

S.W.3d 218, 222 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2012) (citing Willamette Indust., Inc. v. Tenn.

Assessment Appeals Comm’n, 11 S.W.3d 142, 147 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1999)). Tennessee

Code Annotated section 4-5-322(h) sets forth the following standard for courts reviewing

an agency’s decision:

The court may affirm the decision of the agency or remand the case

for further proceedings. The court may reverse or modify the

decision if the rights of the petitioner have been prejudiced because

the administrative findings, inferences, conclusions, or decisions are:

(1) In violation of constitutional or statutory provisions;

(2) In excess of the statutory authority of the agency;

(3) Made upon unlawful procedure;

(4) Arbitrary or capricious or characterized by abuse of discretion or

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clearly unwarranted exercise of discretion; or

(5)(A) Unsupported by evidence that is both substantial and material

in light of the entire record.

(B) In determining the substantiality of evidence, the court shall

take into account whatever in the record fairly detracts from its

weight, but the court shall not substitute its judgment for that of the

agency as to the weight of the evidence on questions of fact.

Furthermore, “[n]o agency decision pursuant to a hearing in a contested case shall be

reversed, remanded or modified by the reviewing court unless for errors that affect the

merits of such decision.” Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-5-322(i).

An aggrieved party may then appeal the decision of the chancery court to this

Court pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 4-5-323:

(a) An aggrieved party may obtain a review of any final judgment of

the chancery court under this chapter by appeal to the court of

appeals of Tennessee.

(b) The record certified to the chancery court and the record in the

chancery court shall constitute the record in an appeal . . . .

(c) The procedure on appeal shall be governed by the Tennessee

Rules of Appellate Procedure.

When this Court is evaluating a trial court’s review of an agency’s decision, we must

determine “‘whether or not the trial court properly applied the . . . standard of review

found at Tennessee Code Annotated § 4-5-322(h).’” Wade v. Tenn. Dep’t of Fin. &

Admin., 487 S.W.3d 123, 126-27 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2015) (quoting Jones v. Bureau of

TennCare, 94 S.W.3d 495, 501 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2002)).

IV. DISCUSSION

A. Issues Presented for Review

As a preliminary matter, we note that Dr. Banks asserts a myriad of alleged errors

on appeal, most of which are not proper for this Court’s review. Dr. Banks appears to

fundamentally misunderstand the purpose of judicial review of an agency decision. Dr.

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Banks submitted close to 100 filings in the chancery court after the court entered its final

order affirming his termination. Dr. Banks essentially used the trial court, and is now

attempting to use this court, as a forum to air his grievances with the University. That,

however, is not the purpose of judicial review, and we reject any attempt to litigate issues

on appeal that were not properly raised in the tribunals below.

In his petition for judicial review of this matter in chancery court, Dr. Banks only

raised two fairly narrow issues for judicial review, which were recited in the chancery

court’s order as follows:

1. Did the Acting Agency Head fail to give appropriate weight to Dr.

Banks’ 50% appointment at the University in reviewing his

performance at University of Tennessee under the statutorily

required clear and convincing burden of proof [set forth in Tenn.

Code Ann. § 49-8-303(a)(4)]?

2. Did the Acting Agency Head fail to adequately consider the

constructive denial of Dr. Banks’s Faculty Modified Duties

Assignment (FMDA) Request to [UTK officials] Dean Davis and

Dr. Tomsovic under the statutorily required clear and convincing

burden of proof [set forth in Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-8-303(a)(4)]?

Now, however, in his appeal to this court, Dr. Banks raises a total of eleven issues, most

of which were ripe for appeal but, for reasons unknown to this Court, were not raised as

issues before the chancery court. The following issues raised by Dr. Banks on appeal to

this Court were ripe for appeal but were not raised for review in the chancery court:

1. Whether Dean Katrice Jones Morgan was a proper administrative

law judge?

2. Whether Dean Morgan erred in neglecting to rule on the existence

and scope of Dr. Banks’ contract with the University?

3. Whether Dean Morgan erred in neglecting to consider Dr. Banks’ reports of

plagiarism?

4. Whether Dean Morgan’s initial order to terminate Dr. Banks’ tenured

employment is defective because it did not articulate any particular offense

that met the University’s grounds for termination of tenured employment or

that Dr. Banks committed any such offense.

5. Whether President Katherine High’s final order to terminate Dr. Banks’

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tenured employment was defective because it did not articulate any

particular offense that met the University’s grounds for termination, or

because President High engaged in ex parte communications in violation of

the Rules of the University for conducting UAPA contested cases?

9. Whether the chancery court erred in determining the University’s

obligations to Dr. Banks pursuant to the Family Medical Leave Act?1

“It is axiomatic that parties will not be permitted to raise issues on appeal that they did

not first raise in the trial court.” Powell v. Cmty. Health Sys., Inc., 312 S.W.3d 496, 511

(Tenn. 2010). Dr. Banks has, therefore, waived review of the foregoing issues. See,

Black v. Blount, 938 S.W.2d 394, 403 (Tenn. 1996) (holding that “[u]nder Tennessee law,

issues raised for the first time on appeal are waived.”).

B. Motions Outstanding in Chancery Court

Dr. Banks asserts the following as reversible error by the chancery court:

“Appellant requested Chancery Court to rule on various motions, including motions to

determine whether some 100 instances of re-published works met the University’s

description of plagiarism, to determine the existence and scope of Appellant’s Contract,

and to provide injunctive relief under 42 U.S. Code § 1983. The Chancery Court

neglected to decide these questions or act on these motions.” Dr. Banks does not list the

specific motions to which he is referring or any harm he supposedly suffered by the trial

court’s alleged failure to rule on them. At any rate, we cannot determine any error on the

trial court’s part for failure to address his copious filings – motions or otherwise.

As we discussed above, Dr. Banks filed nearly 100 documents after entry of the

trial court’s final order. A review of the record suggests that he misunderstands the

finality of the trial court’s December 29, 2016 order. On March 3, 2017, the trial court

did in fact address the abundance of filings by Dr. Banks. The court appropriately

decided to treat all of his pleadings objecting to the final order as motions to alter or

amend pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure, Rule 59.04. The court then, with

great care and patience, discussed and denied each of the following motions:

1. Petition to Reconsider Withdrawal

1. Although this issue theoretically would have been ripe for review by the chancery

court, Dr. Banks did not properly raise it as an issue. Rather, he requested that the

chancery court review the agency’s determination regarding his request for a Faculty

Modified Duties Assignment – not a request for leave pursuant to the Family Medical

Leave Act.

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2. Notification Regarding Counsel

3. Motion for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief

4. Prayer for Ruling on Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct

5. Notice of Spoliation of Records

6. Question of Copyright

7. Notice of Defective Charges

8. Motion Regarding Fear Rally at the University of Tennessee

9. Question About Plagiarism and Copyright

10. Motion Regarding Aggravated Perjury Regarding Vote in Favor of

Creating the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer

Science

11. Motion Regarding Aggravated Perjury During Deposition

12. Motion Regarding Aggravated Perjury in Court

13. Motion Regarding False Report

14. Question of Offenses Against Administration of Government

15. Question of Concealed Records

16. Question of Budget and Expenditure

17. Prayer for Injunctive Relief

The court also set the Motion to Alter or Amend for a hearing. This motion was

subsequently denied as well. The court then concluded with the following: “In addition

to the above motions, notices, prayers, petitions and questions, the Petitioner has filed

other documents that do not constitute motions. Accordingly, they need not be

addressed. All other motions or claims for relief not addressed in this order or in the

Court’s prior orders, apart from the above-mentioned motion to alter or amend, are

hereby denied.” We determine no error on the part of the trial court in ruling (or not

ruling) on these filings. Moreover, Dr. Banks’ failure to specify any alleged harm puts

this issue into the category of errors not affecting the merits of the decision in this case,

and is therefore not reversible error pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 4-5-

322(i).

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C. Proper Standard of Review

Despite clear law to the contrary, Dr. Banks continues to assert that the proper

burden of proof that the University was required to carry was “clear and convincing

evidence” to support the validity of his termination. Our analysis of this issue mirrors the

analysis by the trial court. Dr. Banks simply misunderstands the law on this issue. The

“clear and convincing evidence” standard applies to schools that are part of the Board of

Regents system. See, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 49-8-301–304. The University of Tennessee

at Knoxville is not part of the Board of Regents system but is rather created by a separate

statutory scheme. See, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 49-9-101–1502. The standard of proof

required under these circumstances is whether the University proved its case by a

“preponderance of the evidence.” Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1720-1-5-.01(12)(d). We

affirm the trial court on this issue.

D. Existence of a Contract between Dr. Banks and the University

Dr. Banks alleges that the Agency Head erred in concluding that he did not have a

“contract with the University.” It is difficult to discern what exactly he insists made up

this contract, or why he could never provide a copy of it himself. Dr. Banks was a

tenured professor with the University, and he was terminated pursuant to the guidelines

for revoking a faculty member’s tenure. We conclude that there is substantial and

material evidence in the record to support the Agency Head’s determination that Dr.

Banks did not have a contract with the University. We, therefore, affirm the trial court’s

decision regarding the non-existence of his alleged contract.

E. Withdrawal of Dr. Banks’ Counsel

Dr. Banks claims that he was denied due process because the trial court allowed

his counsel to withdraw. We disagree with this premise on several bases. Although the

specifics of the conundrum are not illuminated in the record, Dr. Banks’ attorney, Ms.

Fisher, apparently came to a point in her representation that she no longer found it

prudent to represent him and filed a motion with the court to withdraw. Not only did Ms.

Fisher herself feel compelled to withdraw, but she represented to the court that she

consulted with the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility on the matter and they

told her that she must withdraw. The court granted Ms. Fisher’s motion based on the

representation that the Board required her to withdraw.

Dr. Banks was given ample time to hire a new attorney after the withdrawal of his

previous one. His inability to procure counsel due, according to Dr. Banks himself, to the

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nature of his case, does not violate his right to due process. Dr. Banks was not entitled to

have counsel appointed by the court. Hessmer v. Miranda, 138 S.W.3d 241, 245 (Tenn.

Ct. App. 2003) (holding that indigent civil litigants, as opposed to indigent criminal

defendants, do not have a statutory or constitutional right to court-appointed counsel.)

Whether or not to permit the withdrawal of counsel is within the sound discretion of the

trial court.

The grant or denial of a request to withdraw as counsel is a matter

addressed to the court's discretion. Andrews v. Bechtel Power Corp., 780

F.2d 124, 135 (1st Cir. 1985); Washington v. Sherwin Real Estate, Inc., 694

F.2d 1081, 1087 (7th Cir. 1982); Devincenzi v. Wright, 882 P.2d 1263,

1265 (Alaska 1994); In re Franke, 55 A.3d 713, 720 (Md. Ct. Spec. App.

2012); Williams v. Bank One, Texas, N.A., 15 S.W.3d 110, 114 (Tex. App.

1999); Kingdom v. Jackson, 896 P.2d 101, 103 (Wash. Ct. App. 1995). Our

supreme court has explained what a trial court must consider in making a

discretionary decision and what constitutes an abuse of that discretion:

Discretionary decisions must take the applicable law and the

relevant facts into account. An abuse of discretion occurs

when a court strays beyond the applicable legal standards or

when it fails to properly consider the factors customarily used

to guide the particular discretionary decision. A court abuses

its discretion when it causes an injustice to the party

challenging the decision by (1) applying an incorrect legal

standard, (2) reaching an illogical or unreasonable decision,

or (3) basing its decision on a clearly erroneous assessment of

the evidence.

Lee Med., Inc. v. Beecher, 312 S.W.3d 515, 524 (Tenn. 2010) (internal

citations omitted).

In re Jamie B., No. M2016-01589-COA-R3-PT, 2017 WL 2829855, at *5 (Tenn. Ct.

App. June 30, 2017).

Based on our review of the record, it appears that Ms. Fisher, the trial court, and

even opposing counsel went to great lengths to protect Dr. Banks’ interest in this

situation. Ms. Fisher did not seek to withdraw until the hearing of this matter was

concluded, the court had orally ruled from the bench, counsel had submitted proposed

orders for the court to execute, and Ms. Fisher had also prepared a notice of appeal for

Dr. Banks to sign and file on his own behalf. Counsel for the University alerted the court

to potential issues with the deadline for the notice of appeal. The trial court went to great

lengths to give Dr. Banks sufficient time to procure new counsel while protecting his

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right to appeal. We conclude that the trial court acted well within its discretion to permit

Ms. Fisher to withdraw as counsel for Dr. Banks.

F. Chancery Court’s Oral Ruling

Finally, Dr. Banks alleges that he was prejudiced by the trial court’s oral ruling on

the day of the hearing of this matter, a ruling that he insists was pre-prepared. He cites no

authority for the proposition that the trial court erred in ruling from the bench, and our

review of the case law reveals none. To the contrary, there is an abundance of case law

in Tennessee in which trial courts rule from the bench. See, e.g., Brookins v. Tabor, No.

W2017-00576-COA-R3-CV, 2018 WL 2106652, at * 8 (Tenn. Ct. App. May 8, 2018);

Parigin v. Mills, No. E2016-00640-COA-R3-CV, 2017 WL 1032740, at *3 (Tenn. Ct.

App. Mar. 16, 2017), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Aug. 16, 2017). There is also nothing in

the record to support Dr. Banks’ assertion that the ruling was pre-prepared. Both parties

prepared and delivered extensive briefs on the issues to the court prior to the hearing.

The court may have properly made notes to prepare prior to or during the hearing. Again,

Dr. Banks has not given any support for this allegation of error, nor has he alleged any

particular harm caused thereby. We conclude the trial court did not err in ruling from the

bench and subsequently issuing a comprehensive written order reflecting that ruling.

IV. CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the judgment of the chancery court. Costs of

this appeal are taxed to the Appellant, for which execution may issue if necessary.

_________________________________

BRANDON O. GIBSON, JUDGE

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