(a) It is a discriminatory practice for an employer to:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 4-21-401

  • Employer: means the state, or any political or civil subdivision thereof, and persons employing eight (8) or more persons within the state, or any person acting as an agent of an employer, directly or indirectly. See Tennessee Code 4-21-102
  • National origin: includes the national origin of an ancestor. See Tennessee Code 4-21-102
  • Person: includes one (1) or more individuals, governments, governmental agencies, public authorities, labor organizations, corporations, legal representatives, partnerships, associations, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, receivers, mutual companies, joint stock companies, trusts, unincorporated organizations or other organized groups of persons. See Tennessee Code 4-21-102
  • Sex: means and refers only to the designation of an individual person as male or female as indicated on the individual's birth certificate. See Tennessee Code 4-21-102
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Fail or refuse to hire or discharge any person or otherwise to discriminate against an individual with respect to compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of such individual’s race, creed, color, religion, sex, age or national origin; or
(2) Limit, segregate or classify an employee or applicants for employment in any way that would deprive or tend to deprive an individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect the status of an employee, because of race, creed, color, religion, sex, age or national origin.
(b) This section does not apply to the employment of an individual by such individual’s parent, spouse or child or to employment in the domestic service of the employer.
(c) It is not a discriminatory practice for an employer to institute a policy in the employer’s workplace requiring that all employees speak only in English at certain times when the employer has a legitimate business necessity for such a policy, including, but not limited to, the safe and efficient operation of the employer’s business, and the employer provides notice to employees of the policy and the consequences of violating the policy.
(d)

(1) No employer shall terminate an employee who is a volunteer rescue squad worker, as this term is defined in § 7-51-210, because the employee, when acting as a volunteer rescue squad worker, is absent or late to the employee’s employment in order to respond to an emergency prior to the time the employee is to report to the employee’s place of employment.
(2) An employer may charge against the employee’s regular pay any time that an employee who is a volunteer rescue squad worker loses from employment because of the employee’s response to an emergency.
(3) An employer has the right to request an employee who loses time from the employee’s employment to respond to an emergency to provide the employer with a written statement from the supervisor or acting supervisor of the volunteer rescue squad worker stating that the employee responded to an emergency and list the time and date of the emergency.
(4) Any employee who is absent or late to the employee’s employment in order to respond to an emergency shall make a reasonable effort to notify the employee’s employer that the employee may be absent or late.
(5) Any employee terminated in violation of this section may bring a civil action against the employee’s employer. The employee may seek reinstatement to the employee’s former position, payment of back wages, reinstatement of fringe benefits, and where seniority rights are granted, the reinstatement of seniority rights. The employee has one (1) year from the date of a violation of this section to file an action.
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