The Tennessee Court of Appeals has upheld a decision dismissing a lawsuit brought by Comcast against EPB, which is planning to go into the cable TV business.
The Appeals Court said it did not agree with the basis that Chancellor Frank Brown dismissed the complaint, but dismissed it on another matter.
The suit had been filed in September 2007 in the Davidson County Chancery Court. It sought a declaratory judgment that EPB was violating state law by improperly using municipal electric utility funds to subsidize its recent cable/Internet venture.
In April 2008, Comcast filed the present lawsuit against EPB in the Hamilton County Chancery Court.
EPB filed a motion to dismiss the present lawsuit claiming the complaint should be dismissed based on the doctrine of prior suit pending, because the claims were not ripe for review, and because the claims were preempted by federal law.
Chancellor Brown determined that the doctrine of prior suit pending did not apply. However, he further found that the claims were not ripe and, even if they were, they were preempted by federal law. The complaint was, therefore, dismissed.
Both parties appealed.
The Appeals Court said, "We conclude that the trial court erred when it determined that EPB had not proven the defense of prior suit pending. This lawsuit should have been dismissed on that basis. Thus, while we agree with the trial court that this case should be dismissed, we do so on a different basis.
"The judgment of the trial court is vacated to the extent the trial court dismissed the action because it was not ripe and because it was preempted as these issues are pretermitted. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed as modified."