Total Articles: 3
Tennessee Supreme Court Clarifies Individual Liability and Retaliation under State Law.
The Tennessee Supreme Court recently issued a decision clarifying the standard for the imposition of individual liability of supervisors for sexual harassment under the Tennessee Human Rights Act (THRA). See Allen v. McPhee. The Court also defined the elements of a prima facie case of retaliation under the THRA.
Tennessee High Court Finds Anti-Harassment Policy May Have Been Unreasonable.
The Tennessee Supreme Court recently ruled against a local state university and its president on an employee’s claims of discrimination, but ruled in their favor on the employee’s retaliation claims. According to the state’s highest court, the employee who accused the president of sexual harassment could have reasonably believed that complaining about the harassment would have been futile because the university’s complaint procedure designates the president as the final decision-maker on all harassment claims.
Tennessee Employee Prevails In Harassment Case.
A state appellate court recently upheld a ruling in favor of an employee who claimed that she was sexually harassed by her supervisors. Although the employer had adopted a sexual harassment policy, the Tennessee Court of Appeals held, the company was unable to satisfy the first element of the Ellerth-Faragher affirmative defense because it failed to properly implement the policy.
