(a) A public servant who was terminated by the public servant’s employer or agent of the employer in violation of § 39-16-506 may bring a cause of action against the employer for unlawful discharge and any other damages to which the employee may be entitled, subject to the limitations set out in § 4-21-313, and:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 50-1-314

  • Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
(1) Treble the amount of damages resulting from or incident to the unlawful discharge; and
(2) Reasonable attorney fees and costs.
(b) If a public servant files a cause of action under this section for any improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause needless increase in costs to an employer, the court, upon motion or upon its own initiative, shall impose upon the public servant an appropriate sanction, which may include an order to pay the other party or parties the amount of reasonable expenses incurred, including reasonable attorney’s fees.
(c) In any cause of action for discharge brought pursuant to this section, the plaintiff shall have the burden of establishing a prima facie case of unlawful discharge. If the plaintiff satisfies this burden, the burden shall then be on the defendant to produce evidence that one (1) or more legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons existed for the plaintiff’s discharge. The burden on the defendant is one of production and not persuasion. If the defendant produces such evidence, the presumption of discrimination raised by the plaintiff’s prima facie case is rebutted, and the burden shifts to the plaintiff to demonstrate that the reason given by the defendant was not the true reason for the plaintiff’s discharge and that the stated reason was a pretext for unlawful discharge. The foregoing allocations of burdens of proof shall apply at all stages of the proceedings, including motions for summary judgment. The plaintiff at all times retains the burden of persuading the trier of fact that the plaintiff has been the victim of unlawful discharge.
(d) This section abrogates and supersedes the common law with respect to any claim that could have been brought under this section.
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