Overview: Tennessee has enacted legislation (House Bill 856) that provides an opportunity for private employers to shield themselves from lawsuits alleging bullying.
Effective Date: April 23, 2019
Details:
Background:
In 2014, Tennessee enacted the Healthy Workplace Act, which required the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) to create a model policy for preventing abusive conduct in the workplace among state and local government entities. The model policy should assist employers in recognizing and responding to abusive conduct in the workplace and prevent retaliation against an employee who has reported such abusive conduct.
The law provides that if an employer adopts the model policy or adopts a policy that conforms to the TACIR’s, then the employer is protected under Tennessee state law from lawsuits alleging mental anguish resulting from employees’ abusive conduct.
The law defines abusive conduct as acts or omissions that would cause a reasonable person, based on the severity, nature, and frequency of the conduct, to believe that an employee was subject to an abusive work environment, such as:
· Repeated verbal abuse in the workplace, including derogatory remarks, insults, and epithets;
· Verbal, nonverbal, or physical conduct of a threatening, intimidating, or humiliating nature in the workplace; or
· The sabotage or undermining of an employee's work performance in the workplace.
House Bill 856:
House Bill 856 expands the Healthy Workplace Act to cover all private employers in the state. Thus, Tennessee private employers can shield themselves from lawsuits alleging mental anguish resulting from employees’ abusive conduct by adopting the TACIR’s model policy (or one that conforms to the requirements of TACIR'S policy). Notably, the immunity is limited and wouldn’t apply to other claims for abusive conduct that may be covered under other laws. For instance, adopting the model policy wouldn’t shield an employer from a lawsuit alleging harassment, discrimination or any other type of workplace misconduct not described in House Bill 856.
Action Required: Tennessee employers aren’t required to adopt the policy but should do so voluntarily.
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