(a) A student, teacher, or employee of the public school, or the student’s parent or legal guardian if the student is under eighteen (18) years of age, has a private right of action against the LEA or public school, if:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 49-2-805

  • Changing facility: means an area in which a person may be in a state of undress in the presence of others, including a locker room, changing room, or shower room. See Tennessee Code 49-2-802
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Restroom: means a facility that includes one (1) or more toilets or urinals. See Tennessee Code 49-2-802
  • sex: means a person's immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth and evidence of a person's biological sex. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1)

(A) The student, teacher, or employee encounters a member of the opposite sex in a multi-occupancy restroom or changing facility located in a public school building;
(B) The student, teacher, or employee is in a multi-occupancy restroom or changing facility designated for the student’s, teacher’s, or employee’s sex at the time of the encounter; and
(C) The LEA or public school intentionally allowed a member of the opposite sex to enter the multi-occupancy restroom or changing facility while other persons were present; or
(2) The student, teacher, or employee is required by the public school to share sleeping quarters with a member of the opposite sex, unless the member of the opposite sex is a family member of the student, teacher, or employee.
(b) A student, teacher, or employee, or a student’s parent or legal guardian, as applicable, claiming a right of action pursuant to this section may bring suit in the chancery court in the county where the claim arose.
(c) A student, teacher, or employee, or a student’s parent or legal guardian, as applicable, aggrieved under this section who prevails in court may recover monetary damages, including, but not limited to, monetary damages for all psychological, emotional, and physical harm suffered. An individual who prevails on a claim brought pursuant to this section is entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees and costs.
(d) This section does not limit other remedies at law or equity available to the aggrieved person against the public school.
(e) A civil action brought pursuant to this section must be initiated within one (1) year from when the date on which the claim arose.
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