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ARTICLE · 01 JUNE 2016

Tennessee Legislative Update

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Governor Haslam recently signed several bills into law that will impact Tennessee employees and employers in both the public and private sectors.

United StatesEmployment and HR
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Executive Summary: Governor Haslam recently signed several bills into law that will impact Tennessee employees and employers in both the public and private sectors. Employers may wish to reassess certain policies and practices in light of these changes.

Attorney Fees & Public Employees

The Tennessee General Assembly has amended the Government Tort Liability Act (GTLA) to allow public employees sued in their individual capacities to recover their attorney's fees if they win the case. Often a plaintiff suing under the GTLA will name not only the public entity involved but also an official of the public entity, both in his/her official and individual capacity. If the employee sued in his or her individual capacity winds up as the prevailing party, (i.e., if the employee successfully defends against the claim), a court may now require the plaintiff to pay the individual governmental employee's reasonable attorney's fees. This could cause some plaintiffs to think twice

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