http://www.elinfonet.com/starticles/43 Articles discussing workplace law in Tennessee. Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:08:39 EST en-us http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2203 Article: 2203 Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) When the owner of a meat processing company changed his business from a sole proprietorship to a corporation, his assignment of all business assets to the new entity automatically included the non-compete agreements entered into years earlier with two independent contractors, the Tennessee Court of Appeals has ruled. This is the first case in that state to address the issue of whether such contracts can pass to a successor company without the express acquiescence of all parties. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2068 Article: 2068 Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) 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. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2046 Article: 2046 Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Beginning January 1, 2008, Tennessee employers that knowingly hire illegal immigrants or fail to adequately check the status of illegal immigrants could lose their business license. Specifically, the law prohibits employers from employing, recruiting or referring for a fee of employment, illegal aliens. Employers do not, however, violate the new law if they use the federal electronic work authorization verification service to verify the employment status of workers within 14 days of their start date. Moreover, employers do not violate the law if they obtain the worker’s lawful resident verification information in a timely manner (even if this information is later determined to be false). http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2035 Article: 2035 Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) 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. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2034 Article: 2034 Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) The state’s highest court recently ruled that the Workers’ Compensation Act covers telecommuters injured while working from home, but only if the injury arises out of and occurs in the course of employment. The Tennessee Supreme Court went on to find that an employee who was attacked by a neighbor in her home office was not entitled to benefits because her injuries did not arise out of her employment. Moreover, according to the court, the “street risk” doctrine did not apply to this case because the employee’s injuries were not causally connected with the nature of the employment. Wait v. Travelers Indemnity Company of Illinois, No. M2007-00099-SC-R3-WC, Supreme Court of Tennessee (November 16, 2007). http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=1930 Article: 1930 Mon, 27 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) 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. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=1929 Article: 1929 Mon, 27 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) On October 1, 2007, Public Chapter 410, also known as the “Non-Smoker Protection Act,” will become effective in the state of Tennessee. The new law prohibits smoking in most public places, including restaurants, educational facilities, health care facilities, hotels, shopping malls, sports arenas, restrooms, lobbies, reception areas, taxicabs, elevators and child care facilities. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=1928 Article: 1928 Mon, 27 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Under a new law, Tennessee employers that knowingly hire illegal immigrants or fail to adequately check the status of illegal immigrants could lose their business license. Specifically, the law prohibits employers from employing, recruiting or referring for a fee of employment, illegal aliens. Employers do not, however, violate the new law if they use the federal electronic work authorization verification service to verify the employment status of workers within 14 days of their start date. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=1927 Article: 1927 Mon, 27 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) On June 21, Governor Phil Bredesen signed House Bill 240/Senate Bill 1688, which was the General Assembly’s response to a 2005 case in which the Tennessee Supreme Court declined to enforce a non-compete provision in an employment contract between a physician and a clinic. In Murfreesboro Medical Clinic, P.A. v. Udom, the state’s highest court held that, except for restrictions specifically provided for by Tennessee’s corporate practice of medicine statute, “covenants not to compete are unenforceable against physicians.” http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=1796 Article: 1796 Thu, 01 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Holds decision to payout vacation is governed by company policy.