On 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.
For attorneys, this case emphasizes the importance of the decision
of whether to file a case in circuit court or chancery court. For governmental
entities, this case emphasizes that the GTLA procedures do not apply to every
case.