Melissa T. Richardson

Conn v. Hall et. al. Melissa Richardson and Kirstin Handshoe secured summary judgment for a teacher against allegations of sexual harassment made by a student. The student’s Facebook profile listed her as a 40-year-old adult. The teacher messaged the profile. The student claimed the teacher sent inappropriate messages to her on Facebook amounting to sexual…

Bauer v. Cole Engineering Solutions, Inc., et al.  Melissa Richardson and Ryan Glass successfully obtained summary judgment for their client. Plaintiff alleged he fell when a steel building component, which was part of a stairway assembly, was moved and placed in the walkway of a building by an unknown person. Plaintiff alleged all Defendants were…

James A. Chaney v. Wal-Mart Stores East, L.P., et al. Melissa Richardson, Joshua Leckrone, Sarah Laytham, and Bryan Bond, successfully defended the dismissal of all claims of a former physician who attempted to collaterally attack his numerous federal convictions arising out of his distribution of controlled substances. The Complaint alleged claims of negligence, identity theft,…

Brewer v. Legacy Greenscapes . Richardson Law Group attorneys, Melissa Richardson and Bryan Bond, secured summary judgment for two non-profit entities following an injury at a recreational park. In 2023, a man visiting the park with his family injured himself going down a hill on a piece of flattened cardboard. At the time of his…

Estate of North v. Napier, et. al . Ms. Richardson & Mr. Epperson secured a dismissal for three KSP officers who were sued for wrongful death following a police pursuit.  The Court ultimately found that the officers’ actions were discretionary rather than ministerial, and, upon completion of the officers’ discovery depositions, determined that the Plaintiffs…

Haney v. City of Paintsville.   Ms. Richardson and Mr. Epperson successfully defended the City of Paintsville and the City’s police officers in connection with the arrest of decedent Prater, who attacked officers as they were attempting to arrest him.  Prater had been taken to the hospital, but ran away from the hospital after ripping a…

Virgil Collins v. Manchester Shopping Center, LLC, et al . Melissa Richardson and Summer Burgess obtained a dismissal for their clients, Manchester Shopping Center, LLC and Manchester Rentals, LLC (“Clients”), in a personal injury suit that arose after the Plaintiff slipped and fell at a closed car wash in the midst of extreme winter weather.…

Teresa Spicer v. James Nathan (Rebel) Combs : Melissa Richardson and Adam Hutchinson obtained a dismissal for their Client, a widower, in a suit for intentional infliction of emotional distress brought by his former mother-in-law. The facts of the case involved a motor vehicle accident, in which the Client was the driver, resulting in the…

Shipp & Heath v. Arrowhead Camper Sales Inc : Melissa Richardson obtained a unanimous defense verdict on liability for her client, Arrowhead Camper Sales, Inc. This case involved a motor vehicle accident that occurred on October 13, 2017, in Graves County, Kentucky related to an alleged sight-line obstruction due to campers/RVs parked in Arrowhead’s parking…

Baird v. Greenwell Brothers Farm, LLC, et al. Melissa Richardson and Zach Epperson successfully obtained a unanimous defense verdict on liability for their clients, Greenwell Brothers Farm, LLC, Thomas Randall Greenwell, and James Neal Greenwell, in a unique case involving a negligence action filed by a farm employee after he contracted a rare fungal infection.…

Rebecca Thorpe v. Board of Education of Powell County, Kentucky, et al. Melissa Richardson, Elizabeth Bass, and Zack Turpin obtained summary judgment for their clients, a Board of Education, a Superintendent, and a High School Principal, after a former employee filed a Complaint alleging wrongful termination in violation of the First Amendment, her right to…

Gore v. Blazer’s Fun Zone, et al . Melissa Richardson and Ryan Glass obtained a defense verdict on liability for their clients. Plaintiff was a patron at an amusement venue for her grandson’s birthday. To enter the business, everyone was required to sign a waiver. Blazer’s had an electronically signed waiver; however, Plaintiff disputed that…

Walker v. Greenwood, Inc.  Melissa Richardson successfully obtained a defense verdict on liability. Plaintiff was abducted from Greenwood Bingo off Dixie Highway in Louisville by a John Doe on January 11, 2017, during a midnight bingo event operated by a charity organization. Despite having attended bingo events at Greenwood for approximately 17 years prior to…

Kincer v. Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College . Melissa Thompson Richardson successfully obtained a dismissal for her client, a member of the Kentucky Community & Technical College System (KCTCS), in a discrimination action brought by a former student. Following the filing of a Motion to dismiss asserting sovereign immunity with respect to Plaintiff’s claims…

House v. Restocon Corporation. Melissa Richardson successfully obtained summary judgment for their client, a general contractor, in a slip and fall matter occurring in an allegedly dark parking garage. Plaintiff was walking through a garage she had visited more than 50 times in the two years before she fell. At least 9 lights in the area…

Kentucky Commission on Human Rights v. Scott’s Property Management . Melissa Richardson and Zack Turpin successfully obtained a dismissal for their client, a property management service. Plaintiff filed a Complaint with the Human Right’s Commission on July 11, 2016, based on allegedly discriminatory housing practice that led to her wrongful eviction. KRS 344.625 requires the…

Pate v. Settle . Melissa Richardson and Ryan Glass successfully obtained summary judgment for their client. Defendant rented a dumpster for his tenant to use during efforts to remediate the property.  Plaintiff was allegedly helping the tenant with the remediation efforts.  In doing so, Plaintiff placed a nightstand next to the dumpster and stood on…

Jensen v. Fright Nights, LLC.   Melissa Richardson successfully obtained a unanimous defense verdict on liability.  Plaintiff fell on a haunted trail on Halloween night in 2016.  After initially telling staff she fell because she was running, she subsequently indicated she fell because she tripped on a root that she could not see because it was too…

Lewis v. Shackelford, et al.  Melissa Richardson and Elizabeth Bass wrote an  amicus curiae  brief on behalf of Kentucky Defense Counsel in support of Defendants, King’s Daughters Medical Center and Dr. Paul Lewis, which assisted in securing a reversal in favor of Defendants. In 2010, Shackelford had a cerebral angiogram performed by Dr. Lewis at KDMC. Immediately…

Alexander v. Trustgard .  Melissa Richardson obtained summary judgment in Laurel Circuit Court for Trustgard Insurance Company in this third-party bad faith case.  The Judgment of the Laurel Circuit Court was affirmed by the Kentucky Court of appeals.  Plaintiff was allegedly injured in a motor vehicle accident with Trustgard’s insured.  At the time of the…

Childers v. Hard Shell Tactical, LLC . In a matter of first impression,  Melissa Thompson Richardson successfully argued for a client’s immunity from civil prosecution in a wrongful death matter. The Court of Appeals reversed the Circuit Court’s Order and held that Hard Shell Tactical, LLC was immune from civil prosecution under KRS 503.085.

Henson v. Estate of Turner and Bowling Trucking .  Melissa Richardson successfully obtained a unanimous defense verdict on liability on behalf of their clients, Bowling Trucking and the Estate of Charles Turner, in Powell Circuit Court.  Mr. Turner was driving down the Mountain Parkway when he entered a significant fog area.  This fog was exacerbated by…

Johnny Doe v. Kids House, et. al.   Melissa Richardson successfully defended their clients, a daycare, its owner, and its director. A daycare employee was in an altercation with a ten year old student. The student struck her in the eye. She angrily left the student, returned 23 seconds later, and struck the student several times.…

Farrag and Hammad v. Sindle Trucking, Tyrone Kilgore, and HDI Gerling America Insurance. Melissa Richardson successfully defended Sindle Trucking, its driver, Tyrone Kilgore, and its insurer, HDI Gerling America Insurance in a rear-end accident between Mr. Kilgore’s loaded tanker truck and Plaintiff Farrag’s semi. Farrag blew a tire in May 2014 while travelling north on…

Cassidy Daugherty v. Scared and Cornfused, Inc., a/k/a Field of Screams.  Mrs. Richardson obtained a verdict in favor of an outdoor haunted attraction. Plaintiff fell at the premises and sustained two ankle fractures. Her recovery was complicated by blood clots and several surgeries. However, the Defense was able to successfully establish that Field of Screams…

Kendall v. Ralphie’s Fun Center ,  A/K/A Ralphie’s Properties, LLC . Ms. Kendall slipped and fell while bowling, fracturing her wrist.  She alleged the bowling alley had negligently applied oil to the lane on which she was bowling and failed to post adequate warnings about the hazard presented by the oil.  She and her attorney…

Richard Slawsky v. Knob Creek Gun Range, Inc .  Mrs. Richardson obtained a directed verdict on behalf of Knob Creek Gun Range.  Plaintiff was weekly year-round visitor to Knob Creek Gun Range for years prior to falling in March 2015.  At that time, he noted that the weather was snowy, icy, and cold.  He had no…

Geisler v. Kentucky Community and Technical College System , No. 2016-CA-001094-MR : Plaintiff was seriously injured while descending steps of a building owned by Defendant. Defendant, a state community college, first obtained dismissal in Jefferson Circuit Court on the basis of immunity. The Court of Appeals then affirmed this dismissal and agreed with the Defendant’s…

This two week trial resulted in a defense verdict on liability in the case of Pam Lane and Pam Lane as Administrator of the Estate of Matthew Lane v. James Baker and W.A. Kendall Co. O n May 20, 2014, Pam Lane and her husband, Matt Lane, were driving their motorcycle on Hwy 30 in…

Slone v. Moore , 12-CI-184 . Mrs. Richardson obtained a defense verdict on liability in this 3 week trial styled. On February 2, 2012, Plaintiff was a passenger in a vehicle travelling on Hwy 80 in Perry Co., Ky. The driver of his vehicle, Duane Stidham, was third partied in by Mrs. Richardson’s client and…

White v. Boyd .  On December 3, 2012, Dr. Boyd turned onto the wrong side of Man O War Blvd, and caused an accident with an oncoming vehicle in which Plaintiff was a passenger.  Dr. Boyd failed all field sobriety tests at the scene and was found to have a .164 BAC an hour and a…

Maynard v. Hall.  Jordan Hall fell asleep at the wheel while driving his employer’s vehicle, and, in the process, rear-ended Margie Maynard. The employer, BMM, now defunct, sold chemicals to assist with the mining industry. As a result of the employee falling asleep at the wheel, directed verdict as to Jordan Hall’s liability, represented by Walters Meadows…

French v. Clarksville Stave & Lumber Co., Ltd. .A rollover accident that occurred after two truckers met in an S-Curve on a narrow rural road resulted in a trial before the U.S. District Court at Covington.  After brief deliberation, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the defendant who was represented by Melissa…