Congress has enacted numerous federal statutes, and the Tennessee legislature has passed similar state laws, designed to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and designed to protect certain behavior so that such behavior, when engaged in, cannot form the basis of an adverse employment action (such as a failure to hire or promote, demotion, termination).
The most common – and the most well-known – of these statutes prohibit employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, age and disability. However, an employer should be aware that these are not the only “protected characteristics (or behaviors)” under federal law or Tennessee law. For instance, the United States Bankruptcy Code prohibits employers from terminating an employee because the employee has exercised the right to file for bankruptcy protection.
The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) prohibits employers – even non-union employers – from terminating employees who engage in “protected concerted activity.” Similarly, in Tennessee, an employer cannot terminate an employee solely because the employee uses tobacco products, or has filed a workers’ compensation lawsuit, or has reported illegal activities. These areas of protection for employees are evolving. There are state and...
Please call us at (312) 960-9400 if this is an error or if you have any questions.