Jennifer Parrott v. Lawrence County Animal Welfare League, Inc., et al

The owner of approximately forty dogs filed a complaint against an animal welfare league for improperly removing the dogs from her property. She later added Lawrence County as a defendant. Lawrence County filed a motion to dismiss the owner’s complaint on the basis of governmental immunity. The trial court granted the county’s motion, and the owner appealed. Tennessee law requires that pleadings alleging negligence by a governmental entity overtly state that the tort was committed by an employee or employees of the governmental entity within the scope of his/her or their employment. The dog owner failed to include this assertion in any of her pleadings. As a result, we affirm the trial court’s judgment granting the county’s motion to dismiss the dog owner’s claims against it.