Metro Pulled in to Another Conservatorship Case

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Metro Nashville government has been named as a defendant in another suit stemming from allegations against conservators in Davidson Probate Court.
Court documents filed this week show that attorneys for former Davidson Public Guardian Jeanan Stuart have named Metro as a defendant in a pending suit filed by Ginger Franklin of Hendersonville.
The claim against Metro follows a decision by Circuit Court Judge Hamilton Gayden, who found that Stuart could be found liable for failing to act in Franklin's best interests while serving as her conservator.
 Gayden virtually invited the move when he agreed to reconsider his decision if Metro became a party to the suit within 30 days.
In an unrelated case Metro is being sued by a former ward of John Clemmons, a Nashville attorney who is serving a lengthy prison term after pleading guilty to the theft of more than $1 million from wards he was serving as a conservator. Three of those four cases were in Davidson court.
Stuart, who was serving a second term as Davidson's Public Guardian, stepped down last year on the same day Probate Judge David "Randy" Kennedy announced he would no longer appoint her to cases. Kennedy said he took the action because of questions raised about Stuart's billing practices.
Stuart's lawyers have argued that because she was acting in her official capacity she is immune from liability claims and that any claims must be made against Metro.
Franklin's lawyers have opposed that claim, noting that she originally contended she was exempt because she was acting as an agent of the court. Hamilton rejected that argument in a prior ruling and Franklin's attorney argued that Stuart was not allowed to raise a different argument at this stage of the case.
Stuart's two appointments to the public guardian's post were approved by Metro Council on the recommendation of Kennedy. Her post has remained vacant since her resignation.
Franklin's suit charges that Stuart wrongly placed her in a group home where she was put to work without pay serving other residents.