iOn August 26, 2015, the Tennessee Supreme Court held that there is a right to trial by jury in cases brought by an employee against his governmental entity employer under the Tennessee Public Protection Act. For governmental entities, this holding represents a huge loss.
The Governmental Tort Liability Act removes the immunity of governmental entities for the actions of their employees. Although the GTLA is broad, the GTLA does not remove liability for all actions of governmental employees. For instance, the GTLA does not apply to intentional actions of employees. Thus, governmental entities cannot be sued for libel, slander, interference with contract rights, infliction of mental anguish, invasion of privacy, trespass, malicious prosecution or false imprisonment. Moreover, the GTLA imposes limits upon plaintiffs – the statute of limitations is one (1) year; damages are capped at $300,000. More importantly, the GTLA expressly states that there is no trial by jury in a GTLA action.
But, the GTLA does not apply to every cause of action involving a governmental entity. In Sneed v. Red Bank, the Tennessee Supreme Court held that the GTLA did not apply to lawsuits brought under the Tennessee Human Rights Act. In Young v. City of LaFollette, No. E2013-00441-SC-R11-CV (Aug. 26, 2015), the Tennessee Supreme Court held that the GTLA did not apply to claims brought by public employees against their employers under the Tennessee Public Protection Act, also known as the “retaliatory discharge” act.
In No. E2013-00441-SC-R11-CV (Aug. 26, 2015), the Tennessee Supreme Court held that the GTLA did not apply to claims brought by public employees against their employers under the Tennessee Public Protection Act, also known as the “retaliatory discharge” act.
In Young, the Tennessee Supreme Court held that the GTLA did not preempt claims brought by governmental employees under the Tennessee Public Protection Act. That Act protects employees from termination “solely” for refusing to participate in, or for refusing to remain silent about, illegal activities. The General Assembly expressly included governmental entities in the definition of “employer”. For that reason, the court concluded the GTLA procedures did not apply.
Next, the Tennessee Supreme Court examined whether a “right to trial by jury” existed for TPPA claims. Contrary to popular belief, the right to a trial by jury in Tennessee is not absolute. A statute grants litigants the right to trial by jury in cases brought in chancery court, but that statute does not apply to cases brought in circuit court. The Tennessee Constitution grants a right to trial by jury but only in cases in which a jury trial was allowed in 1796 – when Tennessee became a state.
In Young, the case was filed in circuit court – therefore, the statute was inapplicable. Because there was not a cause of action for retaliatory discharge in 1796, the Supreme Court held that there was not a right to a trial by jury for TPPA cases brought in circuit court.
So, the TPPA is not preempted by the GTLA. Conversely, in cases filed in circuit court, there is no right to jury trial. If the case had been brought in a chancery court (which the Supreme Court noted would have been appropriate), there would have been a statutory right to trial by jury.
