Court Rulings

Myra M. Windham appeals the circuit court's grant of summary judgment to State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company on its declaratory judgment action. State Farm sought a determination that Windham could not stack her underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage from her policies with it when she was in an automobile accident while driving a rental car. We reverse.

A medical center employee sued the medical center under the Tennessee Public Protection Act ("the TPPA") asserting that his employment was terminated because he refused to remain silent about the medical center's failure to enact policies to safeguard its employees from workplace violence. The medical center moved to dismiss the employee's complaint for failure to state a claim, and the trial court granted the motion. We conclude that the employee's complaint satisfies the TPPA's "illegal act" requirement because it alleges the violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act's general duty clause and describes activities that implicate important public policy concerns. Therefore, we reverse the trial court's dismissal.

This is the second appeal of this case involving a former state employee's claim for alleged unpaid holiday compensation. In 2015, pursuant to statutory authority, the governor decided that the State would observe the Columbus Day holiday on Friday, November 27, 2015, instead of on Monday, October 12, 2015. Plaintiff, who was an employee of the Tennessee Department of General Services in 2015, was terminated through a reduction-in-force, and his last day of pay, prior to the holiday, was Tuesday, November 24, 2015. Plaintiff filed a civil warrant in general sessions court, arguing that he did not receive the substituted Columbus Day holiday compensation despite having worked on October 12, 2015. The Department filed a motion to dismiss on the basis of sovereign immunity, which the general sessions court granted. Plaintiff then filed a de novo appeal to the circuit court, where the Department filed another motion to dismiss on sovereign immunity grounds, which was also granted. On the first appeal to this Court, however, we reversed the granting of the motion to dismiss and remanded the case back to the circuit court. Ultimately, the Department filed a motion for summary judgment with supporting affidavits, again on the grounds of sovereign immunity, which the circuit court granted. Having concluded that the Department proved, by undisputed facts, the necessary criteria for sovereign immunity to apply, we affirm.

A sheriff's office demoted an employee for failing to follow official policies and procedures during an arrest. The employee appealed to the civil service merit board. After a hearing, the board found the employee had neglected his duty as the ranking officer at the scene of the arrest. But the board modified the disciplinary action to a 30-day suspension and ordered the employee's reinstatement to his former rank. The employee then sought judicial review. The chancery court determined that the board's decision was arbitrary and capricious and modified the disciplinary sanction. We conclude that the board's decision was not arbitrary and capricious. So we reverse.