An OVERVIEW of State and Federal
Laws Regarding Discrimination
J. Gregory Grisham, Esq.
Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan, PLLC
414 Union Street, Suite 1900
Nashville, Tennessee 37219
(615) 255-7722
greg.grisham@leitnerfirm.com
Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
I.
OVERVIEW OF EMPLOYMENT LAWS
A. Several Layers of Laws:
• Federal
• State (statutory, common law)
• Local (County, City, Municipality)
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
B. Federal Laws
1. Title VII (15 or more employees)
• covers race, sex, color, religion, and national origin
• covers employees, job applicants, former employees,
applicants or participants in a training or
apprenticeship program
• forbids discrimination when it comes to any aspect of
employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job
assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe
benefits, and any other term or condition of
employment.
 Summaries of federal law were adopted from material on the EEOC.gov and DOL.gov websites.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• Also prohibits harassment based on race, color, sex,
religion, or national origin.
• Also requires an employer to reasonably
accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or
practices, unless doing so would cause more than a
minimal burden on the operations of the employer's
business.
***EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on the
Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in
Employment Decisions Under Title VII
***EEOC Guidance on Religious Dress and
Grooming Accommodation
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
2. Pregnancy Discrimination Act
• Forbids discrimination based on pregnancy when it
comes to any aspect of employment.
• If a woman is temporarily unable to perform her job due
to a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth,
the employer or other covered entity must treat her in the
same way as it treats any other temporarily disabled
employee.
• It is unlawful to harass a woman because of pregnancy,
childbirth, or a related medical condition.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
2. Pregnancy Discrimination Act
• New Guidance from the EEOC (7/24/2014)
• Cert Granted 7/1/2014 Young v. UPS
• On issue of work accommodations for pregnant
workers-whether they are required and under what
circumstances.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
3. Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
(IRCA)
• Employers with four or more employees may not:
• Discriminate because of national origin against U.S.
citizens, U.S. nationals, and authorized aliens.
• Discriminate because of citizenship status against U.S.
citizens, U.S. nationals, and classes of aliens with work
authorization.
• Charges filed with Department of Justice, Office of
Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair
Employment Practices.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
4. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA as amended)
• Disability discrimination occurs when an employer
treats a qualified individual with a disability who is
an employee or applicant unfavorably because he
has a disability.
• Disability discrimination also occurs when an
employer treats an applicant or employee less
favorably because he has a history of a disability or
because he is believed to have a physical or mental
impairment that is not transitory (lasting or
expected to last six months or less) and minor
(even if she does not have such an impairment).
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• The ADA requires an employer to provide reasonable
accommodation to an employee or job applicant with a
disability, unless doing so would cause significant
difficulty or expense for the employer ("undue
hardship").
• The ADA also protects people from discrimination
based on their relationship with a person with a
disability (even if they do not themselves have a
disability). For example, it is illegal to discriminate
against an employee because her husband has a
disability.
• Under the ADA it is illegal to harass an applicant or
employee because he has a disability as defined above.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
5.
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA)
• It is illegal to discriminate against employees or
applicants because of genetic information. GINA
prohibits the use of genetic information in making
employment decisions, and restricts employers from
requesting,
requiring
or
purchasing
genetic information, and strictly limits the disclosure
of genetic information.
• Genetic information includes information about an
individual’s genetic tests and the genetic tests of an
individual’s family members, as well as information
about a disease or disorder of family members.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• Under GINA, it is also illegal to harass a person
because of his or her genetic information.
• It is also unlawful for a covered entity to disclose
genetic information. Covered entities must keep
genetic information confidential (also other medical
information) and in a separate medical file.
• It will usually be unlawful for a covered entity to get
genetic information. There are six narrow exceptions
to this prohibition (ex. genetic information may be
obtained as part of health or genetic services, including
wellness programs, offered by the employer on a
voluntary basis).
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
6. 42 U.S.C. Section 1981
(a) Statement of equal rights. All persons within the
jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same
right in every State and Territory to make and enforce
contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the
full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for
the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by
white citizens, and shall be subject to like
punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, and
exactions of every kind, and to no other.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
(b) "Make and enforce contracts" defined. For purposes
of this section, the term "make and enforce contracts"
includes the making, performance, modification, and
termination of contracts, and the enjoyment of all
benefits, privileges, terms, and conditions of the
contractual relationship.
(c) Protection against impairment The rights protected by
this section are protected against impairment by
nongovernmental discrimination and impairment
under
color
of
State
law.
• Covers Retaliation. CBOCS West, Inc. v. Humphries (US
2008)
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
7. The Equal Pay Act (EPA) (applies to employers
covered by the FLSA) Tennessee Equal Pay Act Tenn.
Code Ann. § 50-2-201 et seq.
• The EPA requires that men and women in the
same workplace be given equal pay for equal
work. The jobs need not be identical, but they
must be substantially equal. Job content (not job
titles) determines whether jobs are substantially
equal. All forms of pay are covered by this law.
• If there is an inequality in wages between men
and women, employers may not reduce the wages
of either sex to equalize their pay.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• Equal Wages: Must be paid in the same form. For example, an
employer cannot pay a higher hourly wage to a male employee
and then attempt to equalize the difference by periodically
paying a bonus to a female employee.
• The EPA speaks in terms of equal work, but the word "equal"
does not require that the jobs be identical, only that they are
substantially equal. In comparing two jobs for purposes of the
EPA, consideration should be given to the actual job duties, not
job titles or classifications. The EEOC looks at whether both
jobs require the same skill, effort and responsibility.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• Skill: Measured by factors such as the experience, ability,
education and training required to perform a job. Possession of
a skill not needed to meet the requirements of the job should
not be considered. For example, a hotel clerk alleges that he is
paid less than a female who performs substantially equal work.
He has a high school diploma while his female co-worker has a
college degree. However, performance of the two jobs requires
the same education, ability, experience, and training.
• Therefore, the skill required to perform the two jobs is
substantially equal. A college degree does not justify a higher
salary because it is not needed to perform the job.
• Effort: Amount of physical or mental exertion needed to
perform job.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• Responsibility is usually defined as the degree of
accountability required in performing a job. Factors to be
considered in determining the level of responsibility in a job
include:
• Extent to which employee works without supervision,
• Extent to which employee exercises supervisory functions, and
• Impact of employee's exercise of his or her job functions on
the employer's business.
• Ordinarily, "establishment" means a physically separate place
of business. However, given that many employees have virtual
offices, the EEOC assesses whether the "establishment" is
separate on a case-by-case basis.
• Working conditions usually consist of two factors:
Surroundings and Hazards.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009
• On January 29, 2009, President Obama signed the Lilly
Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009("Act"), which supersedes the
Supreme Court's decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire &
Rubber Co., Inc., 550 U.S. 618 (2007). Ledbetter had required
a compensation discrimination charge to be filed within 180
days of a discriminatory pay-setting decision (or 300 days in
jurisdictions that have a local or state law prohibiting the same
form of compensation discrimination).
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• The Act restores the pre-Ledbetter position of the EEOC that
each paycheck that delivers discriminatory compensation is a
wrong actionable under the federal EEO statutes, regardless of
when the discrimination began. As noted in the Act, it
recognizes the "reality of wage discrimination" and restores
"bedrock principles of American law."
• Under the Act, an individual subjected to compensation
discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, or the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 may file a charge
within 180 (or 300) days of any of the following:
• when a discriminatory compensation decision or other
discriminatory practice affecting compensation is adopted;
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• when the individual becomes subject to a discriminatory
compensation decision or other discriminatory practice
affecting compensation; or
• when the individual's compensation is affected by the
application of a discriminatory compensation decision or other
discriminatory practice, including each time the individual
receives compensation that is based in whole or part on such
compensation decision or other practice.
• The Act has a retroactive effective date of May 28, 2007, and
applies to all claims of discriminatory compensation pending
on or after that date.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
8. Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)(20 or
more employees)
• Age discrimination involves treating someone (an
applicant or employee) less favorably because of his
age. The ADEA forbids age discrimination against
people who are age 40 or older. It does not protect
workers under the age of 40.
• Discrimination can occur when the victim and the
person who inflicted the discrimination are both over
40.
• It is unlawful to harass a person because of his age.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
9. Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) DOL
• The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered
employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for
specified family and medical reasons with continuation
of group health insurance coverage under the same
terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken
leave. Eligible employees are entitled to:
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
Twelve work weeks of leave in a 12-month period for:
• the birth of a child and to care for the newborn
child within one year of birth; the placement with
the employee of a child for adoption or foster care
and to care for the newly placed child within one
year of placement; to care for the employee’s
spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health
condition;
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• a serious health condition that makes the employee
unable to perform the essential functions of his or her
job; any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that
the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a
covered military member on “covered active duty;” or
• twenty-six workweeks of leave during a single 12month period to care for a covered service-member
with a serious injury or illness if the eligible employee
is the service-member’s spouse, son, daughter, parent,
or next of kin (military caregiver leave).
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
The FMLA only applies to employers that meet certain criteria.
A covered employer is a:
• Private-sector employer, with 50 or more employees in
20 or more workweeks in the current or preceding
calendar year, including a joint employer or successor
in interest to a covered employer.
• Public agency, including a local, state, or Federal
government agency, and public or private elementary
or secondary schools regardless of the number of
employees.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
Only eligible employees are entitled to take FMLA leave.
An eligible employee is one who:
• Works for a covered employer;
• Has worked for the employer for at least 12 months;
and
• Has at least 1,250 hours of service for the employer
during the 12 month period immediately preceding the
leave; and works at a location where the employer has
at least 50 employees within 75 miles.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• Section 105 of the FMLA and section 825.220 of the FMLA
regulations prohibit the following actions:
• An employer is prohibited from interfering with, restraining, or
denying the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any FMLA
right.
• An employer is prohibited from discriminating or retaliating
against an employee or prospective employee for having
exercised or attempted to exercise any FMLA right.
• An employer is prohibited from discharging or in any other
way discriminating against any person, whether or not an
employee, for opposing or complaining about any unlawful
practice under the FMLA.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• All persons, whether or not employers, are prohibited
from discharging or in any other way discriminating
against any person, whether or not an employee, because
that person has:
• Filed any charge, has instituted, or caused to be
instituted, any proceeding under or related to the
FMLA;
• Given, or is about to give, any information in
connection with an inquiry or proceeding relating to
any right under the FMLA; or
• Testified, or is about to testify, in any inquiry or
proceeding relating to a right under the FMLA.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
Examples of prohibited conduct include:
• Refusing to authorize FMLA leave for an eligible employee,
• Discouraging an employee from using FMLA leave,
• Manipulating an employee’s work hours to avoid
responsibilities under the FMLA,
• Using an employee’s request for or use of FMLA leave as a
negative factor in employment actions, such as hiring,
promotions, or disciplinary actions, or,
• Counting FMLA leave under “no fault” attendance policies.
• Any violations of the FMLA or the Department’s regulations
constitute interfering with, restraining, or denying the exercise
of rights provided by the FMLA.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
10. Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment
Rights Act (USERRA)
• USERRA protects civilian job rights and benefits for
veterans and members of the active and Reserve
components of the U.S. armed forces.
• USERRA provides that returning service-members
must be promptly reemployed in the same position that
they would have attained had they not been absent for
military service, with the same seniority, status and
pay, as well as other rights and benefits determined by
seniority.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• Employee has a private cause of action without
any required prior administrative action or
exhaustion of remedies, but can file a complaint
with DOL.
• Employee’s litigation can lead to a forced rehire,
benefits, job placement and monetary award.
• Back wages and compensation for benefits, plus
pre- and post-judgment, interest; Attorney fees
and litigation expenses; and potential liquidated
damages (double).
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
11. Occupational Health & Safety Act
• Health and safety regulations.
• OSHA is violated when an employer fires,
demotes, transfers, or discriminates in any way
against a worker for filing a complaint or using
other OSHA rights.
• Complaints are filed with OSHA who conducts an
investigation.
Tennessee has TOSHA Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-3-101 et
seq.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
12. Federal Whistleblower Laws
OSHA enforces 22 whistleblower laws:
• Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (90
days)
• Clean Air Act (30 days)
• Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act (30 days)
• Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010
(180 days)
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
•
•
•
•
•
•
Occupational Safety and Health Act (30 days)
Pipeline Safety Improvement Act (180 days)
Safe Drinking Water Act (30 days)
Sarbanes-Oxley Act (180 days)
Seaman’s Protection Act (180 days)
Section 402 of the FDA Food Safety
Modernization Act (180 days)
• Section 1558 of the Affordable Care Act (180
days)
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• Consumer Product Safety Improvement
Act(180 days)
• Energy Reorganization Act (180 days)
• Federal Railroad Safety Act (180 days)
• Federal Water Pollution Control Act (30 days)
• International Safe Container Act (60 days)
• Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st
Century Act (motor vehicle safety) (180 days)
• National Transit Systems Security Act (180
days)
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• Solid Waste Disposal Act (30 days)
• Surface Transportation Assistance Act
(180 days)
• Toxic Substances Control Act (30 days)
• Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and
Reform Act for the 21st Century (90 days)
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
SEXUAL HARASSMENT (can be on any protected basis)
• It is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or
employee) because of that person’s sex.
Harassment can include “sexual harassment” or
unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual
favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of
a sexual nature.
• Harassment does not have to be of a sexual
nature, however, and can include offensive
remarks about a person’s sex. For example, it is
illegal to harass a woman by making offensive
comments about women in general.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• Both victim and the harasser can be either a
woman or a man, and the victim and harasser can
be the same sex. The harasser can be the victim's
supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a coworker, or someone who is not an employee of the
employer, such as a client or customer.
• Harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or
severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work
environment or when it results in an adverse
employment decision (such as the victim being
fired or demoted).
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
The Employer’s Affirmative Defense - supervisor harassment
• Does not apply to tangible job detriment cases.
• “if no tangible employment action is taken, the
employer may escape liability by establishing, as an
affirmative defense, that (1) the employer exercised
reasonable care to prevent and correct any harassing
behavior and (2) that the plaintiff unreasonably failed
to take advantage of the preventive or corrective
opportunities that the employer provided. Faragher v.
Boca Raton, 524 U. S. 775.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• If the harassing employee is the victim's co-worker, the
employer is liable only if it was negligent in
controlling working conditions.
• An employer may be vicariously liable for an
employee's unlawful harassment only when the
employer has empowered that employee to take
tangible employment actions against the victim, i.e., to
effect a "significant change in employment status, such
as hiring, firing, failing to promote, reassignment with
significantly different responsibilities, or a decision
causing a significant change in benefits.” Vance v. Ball
State (2013).
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
Administrative Requirements
Title VII, PDA, ADA, ADEA, GINA
• Have to file an EEOC Charge within 300 days.
• Have to obtain a right to sue letter.
• Have to file a lawsuit within 90 days of receipt of RTS.
• Equal Pay Act (no charge filing requirement). 2 or 3
year SOL.
• 42 USC 1981 (no min EE; Only Race).No charge
required.
• FMLA and FLSA (no Charge required). 2 or 3 year
SOL.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
Remedies
Title VII, PDA, ADA, GINA
• Back Pay, Reinstatement, Front Pay (in lieu of
reinstatement), compensatory damages, punitive
damages, attorneys’ fees.
• Compensatory and Punitive damages are capped based
on the size of the employer (not under 1981).
• No punitive damages against governmental entities.
• Exception for ADA accommodation efforts.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
Remedies
ADEA, EPA, FMLA, and FLSA
• Injunctions,
compelled
employment,
reinstatement, promotion, back pay and attorneys’
fees and costs. In addition, a willful violation of
the act gives rise to liquidated damages, which are
generally computed by doubling the amount
awarded to the plaintiff. Compensatory damages
are permitted in retaliation cases under the EPA.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
Proving a case of Employment Discrimination
Direct Evidence
• “direct evidence of discrimination . . . [which] requires
the conclusion that unlawful discrimination was at least
a motivating factor in the employer’s actions.”
Daugherty v. Sajar Plastics, Inc., 544 F.3d 696, 707
(6th Cir. 2008). Direct evidence “must establish not
only that the plaintiff’s employer was predisposed to
discriminate on the basis of but also that the employer
acted on that predisposition.” Id.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
Proving an employment discrimination case
Circumstantial evidence (most cases)
• Ex. FMLA, a plaintiff must first establish a prima
facie case of discrimination by showing that: (1) he
engaged in protected activity, (2) he was subject to an
adverse employment decision, and (3) a causal
connection existed between the adverse employment
action and the protected activity. McDonnell Douglas
Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973).
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• Alternatively, a plaintiff may establish a prima facie
case by demonstrating that “1) he is a member of a
protected class; 2) was qualified for the job; 3) he
suffered an adverse employment decision; and 4) was
replaced by a person outside the protected class or
treated differently than similarly situated nonprotected employees.” Newman v. Fed. Express Corp.,
266 F.3d 401, 406 (6th Cir. 2001).
• If the plaintiff establishes a prima facie case, the
employer must proffer a legitimate nondiscriminatory
reason for the adverse employment action.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• If the employer proffers a legitimate nondiscriminatory
reason for the employment action, the plaintiff must
prove that the reason is a pretext for unlawful
discrimination.
• The plaintiff may show that (1) the employer’s stated
reason for terminating the employee has no basis in
fact, (2) the reason offered for terminating the
employee was not the actual reason for the
termination, or (3) the reason offered was insufficient
to explain the employer’s action. Manzer v. Diamond
Shamrock Chemicals Co., 29 F.3d 1078, 1084 (6th Cir.
1994).
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
Tennessee Employment Laws
Tennessee Human Rights Act
Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-101 et seq.
• covers age, sex, race, color, national origin, religion,
creed
• covers employers with 8 or more employees
• similar remedies to Title VII, except no punitive
damages
• can file a charge or file suit directly (direct action)
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• Recent Amendment to THRA effective 7/1/2014
• Removes liability from supervisors or agents individually for
claims made against their employer under the Tennessee
Human Rights Act (“THRA”).
• Adds caps on “non-pecuniary damages” resulting from
prohibited discrimination. For employers with more than 8 but
fewer than 15 employees, the cap is $25,000; 15-100
employees, $50,000; 101-200 employees, $100,000; 201-500
employees, $200,000; more than 500 employees, $300,000.
Source: Governor Signs Tennessee Employment Litigation Reform Bill, National Law Review
5-30-2014.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
• Incorporates the eight-employee threshold for coverage
under the THRA into the Tennessee Disability Act, T.C.A.
§8-50-103
• An employee may not maintain concurrently separate
causes of action in both state court under the Tennessee
Human Rights Act, Tennessee Disability Act, or Tennessee
Public Protection Act, and in federal court, based on the
same facts.
Source: Governor Signs Tennessee Employment Litigation Reform Bill, National Law Review
5-30-2014.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
Tennessee Disability Act
Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-50-103
• There shall be no discrimination in the hiring, firing
and other terms and conditions of employment of the
state of Tennessee or any department, agency,
institution or political subdivision of the state, or of
any private employer, against any applicant for
employment based solely upon any physical, mental
or visual disability of the applicant, unless such
disability to some degree prevents the applicant from
performing the duties required by the employment
sought or impairs the performance of the work
involved…
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
Tennessee Public Protection Act (TPPA)
Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-1-304
• (b) No employee shall be discharged or terminated
solely for refusing to participate in, or for refusing to
remain silent about, illegal activities.
• (3) "Illegal activities" means activities that are in
violation of the criminal or civil code of this state or
the United States or any regulation intended to protect
the public health, safety or welfare.
• burden-shifting framework outlined in McDonnell
Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973) applies
to TPPA claims.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
Common Law Retaliatory Discharge
• Exception to employment at-will doctrine.
• The essence of the public policy exception is that an
employee may claim damages for retaliatory discharge
when the motivating factor for the discharge violates a
clear public policy “evidenced by an unambiguous
constitutional, statutory or regulatory provision.”
Chism v. Mid-South Milling Co., 762 S.W.2d 552, 556
(Tenn.1988).
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
TPPA/ Common Law Claim
• The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that a plaintiff
can bring both a common law claim and a TPPA claim.
Guy v. Mutual of Omaha Insurance Co. (Tenn. 1992).
• Ex. of common law claims, workers compensation,
jury service.
• Recent Amendment - requires that any claim for
retaliatory discharge against an employer be brought
under the TPPA, and eliminates the cause of action for
retaliatory discharge as an exception to the
employment-at-will rule under state common law.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
Tennessee Jury Service Law T.C.A. 22-4-106(d)
•
No employer shall discharge or in any manner
discriminate against an employee for serving on jury duty
if such employee, prior to taking time off, gives the
required notice pursuant to subsection (a) to the employer
that such employee is required to serve.
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Federal & States Laws
Regarding Discrimination
Volunteer Firefighters T.C.A. 50-1-307.
(a) No employer shall terminate an employee who is a
volunteer firefighter solely because the employee, when acting as
a volunteer firefighter, is absent or late to the employee's
employment in order to respond to an emergency prior to the
time the employee is to report to employee's place of
employment.
(e) …The employee may seek reinstatement to the employee's
former position, payment of back wages, reinstatement of fringe
benefits, and where seniority rights are granted, the reinstatement
of seniority rights. The employee has one (1) year from the date
of a violation of this section to file an action.
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Thank You!
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