Get Help with Workplace
Discrimination Problems

National and Tennessee employment laws exist to protect employee dignity and to prevent workplace harassment and discrimination, especially when the cause of the inappropriate workplace conduct is the employee's protected status. Protected status covers most minority statuses, including national origin, race, religion, disability, sex or pregnancy. Under national and Tennessee workplace laws, employment decisions such promotion, termination or pay are required to be based on merit, not on one's protected status.

Protected Status — What it means in Tennessee

Illegal workplace discrimination practices come in many forms, but what most Tennesseans mean when they refer to workplace discrimination are those cases involving a protected status. Protected status means that you possess a characteristic protected by federal or Tennessee law. Typically, but not always, a protected status protects the worker in the minority. The main determination of discrimination in Tennessee court is whether an employee’s protected status was the reason a negative employment action was taken.

Some legally protected statuses recognized by Tennessee courts are:

• Age discrimination
• Racial, nation of origin or religious discrimination
• Sexual discrimination and harassment
• Pregnancy or marital status
• Disability or perceived disability
• Active military or veteran status

These protected statuses should not be a consideration in promotion, transfer or other employment practices. If they were in the case of yourself and coworkers of the same protected status, you may have a discrimination case in the State of Tennessee.

Proving Protected Status Discrimination in Tennessee Court

A number of federal and Tennessee laws protect employee rights against workplace harassment and discrimination. Despite these protections, discrimination still occurs with too frequently in Tennessee, but proving in court that an employee was terminated or suffered from discrimination because of his or her protected status requires significant evidence.

While workplace discrimination does occur during the hiring process, most discrimination cases that a workplace attorney can pursue are those dealing with pay and other policies that have a material effect (loss of wages, denial of promotion, etc.) on a Tennessee employee of protected status.

Unintentional Discrimination is Still Discrimination

Not all workplace discrimination takes on the meanness or severity of harassment. While the idea of dirty jokes or outright bigotry is commonly associated with workplace discrimination, other employment discrimination cases exist where protected status discrimination was considered unintentional.

Sometimes pay practices and incentives have unintended consequences that place someone of a protected status at a disadvantage. In a famous age discrimination class action, it was found a city police force was discriminating against its officers protected under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) because the city paid bonuses to officers with fewer years of service as an incentive to attract and keep new officers. But this had the unintended consequence of putting its older, protected officers at an economic disadvantage which the Supreme Court recognized and awarded pay compensations.

While some employment policies bear no malice, they can have the unintended effect of privileging one group over another for reasons other than work performance.

Reporting Illegal Workplace Discrimination

It is illegal for a Tennessee employer to discriminate in any aspect of employment, including:

• transfer, assignment, promotion or compensation
• individual termination or group layoff
 
• use of company facilities
 
• retirement plans
 
• disability leave
 
• other terms and conditions of employment 

In Tennessee, your employer may not take any form of retaliatory action if you seek legal counsel with a qualified workplace attorney to report discrimination at your workplace.

Legal Help for Discriminated Tennessee Employees

The Higgins Employment Law Firm can help you receive restitution from your employer. This may include back pay, compensatory damages (including “front pay,” or the money you would have earned if you stayed employed), reinstatement, promotion and/or accommodations.

For a free evaluation or to speak with a Tennessee employment lawyer about your workplace discrimination claim, contact Jim Higgins.