Disappointment often presents us with difficult but valuable learning opportunities. Every now and then, however, we can enjoy some good news and still take in a lesson or two. Last week presented such an opportunity for me when I received court orders dismissing claims against clients in two different lawsuits filed by their former employers. […]

On November 2 Congress passed and President Obama signed into law a budget agreement that received a substantial amount of media attention (The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015). What was not so widely reported was an obscure provision within that legislation that authorizes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to significantly increase its fines […]

Since the United States Supreme Court’s recent rulings resulting in state recognition of same sex marriages, a number of employers have asked me if they should expect an extension of workplace anti-discrimination protections to gay and lesbian employees. There currently are no federal or Tennessee anti-discrimination statutes that expressly reference sexual orientation as a prohibited […]

I am from time to time asked by both employers and employees if a Tennessee employer must pay an employee for her “accrued” but unused leave days when she quits or is discharged. There seems to be an assumption by most people who ask the question that if the paid leave days are accrued as […]

I regularly represent both employers and employees in litigation concerning terminations of employees for misconduct or unsatisfactory performance. On occasion, I am also asked to mediate such disputes. After 28 years, you begin to recognize where the “trigger events” leading to lawsuits lurk. There can be no doubt that bad feelings and some litigation are […]

Not too long ago a client manager and I were reviewing workplace policies relating to employee use of the employer’s computer system. Employers often have a number of policies or handbook statements on this topic ranging from protection of the employer’s confidential information, to prohibitions on sexual and other forms of unlawful harassment. To complicate […]

The Tennessee Supreme Court very recently issued a decision addressing whether an employer that refuses to hire a job applicant because of her past workers’ compensation claims with another employer violates the Tennessee workers compensation statutes and can be sued for “retaliatory failure to hire.” In that case, the employer was contracted by a hospital […]

Most private sector employees in Tennessee are classified as “employees at will.” That means the employment relationship can be terminated by either the employer or employee at any time, without notice and for any reason that is not illegal or against public policy (i.e., not involving race, gender, disability or age discrimination, etc.). Thus, absent […]