Opinion ID: 2100530
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Effect of Cessation of Contemptuous Activity

Text: The trial court recognized that compensatory damages are available in a civil contempt action but held that the cessation of strike activity prior to a hearing on the issue of contempt precluded a finding of civil contempt. The trial court therefore granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment and dismissed the civil contempt claims. A trial court's grant of a motion for summary judgment presents a question of law. Eadie v. Complete Co., 142 S.W.3d 288, 291 (Tenn.2004). We review the granting of summary judgment by a trial court de novo without a presumption that the trial court's conclusions are correct. See Mooney v. Sneed, 30 S.W.3d 304, 306 (Tenn.2000). When the contempt consists of the performance of a forbidden act, the cessation of the contemptuous conduct after the entry of the order prohibiting that conduct does not preclude a finding of civil contempt and an award of damages. Neither the plain language of section 29-9-105 nor that of section 29-9-102(3) requires that the disobedience of a court's order be ongoing. See City of Cookeville v. Humphrey, 126 S.W.3d 897, 902 (Tenn.2004) (noting that where the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous, we must apply the statute in accordance with its plain language). Although the strike had ended, any disobedience of the injunction by the defendants would not be rectified until the defendants paid damages to Overnite making it whole. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 29-9-105 (1980 & 2000).