Tennessee Legislative Update – Tennessee Human Rights Act Declares That English-Only Employment Policy Is Non-Discriminatory If A Legitimate Business Necessity

Effective June 23, 2010, the Tennessee Legislature amended the Tennessee Human Rights Act, Tennessee Code Annotated § 4-21-401, by expressly authorizing employment policies that require English to be spoken in the workplace.  The statute declared that it is not a discriminatory practice for an employer to institute a policy that requires employees to speak only in English “at certain times” when the employer has a “legitimate business necessity.”  By way of example, the statute indicates that implementing an English-only policy to promote the safe and efficient operation of the employer’s business would be a legitimate business necessity.  The legislation requires an employer to give employees notice of the policy and the consequences for violating the policy.

While the legislation may, at first glance, purport to give employers the right to implement English-only policies, in reality, the legislation appears to have no substantive effect on existing federal or state law.  As state legislation, the law cannot limit the effect of federal anti-discrimination laws, such as Title VII.  Furthermore, the new statute simply reiterates the existing standard provided by Title VII and the Tennessee Human Rights Act.  Both Title VII and the Tennessee Human Rights Act already permit employers to defend facially-neutral employment policies that may discriminate against a protected class of persons, such as an English-only policy, by demonstrating that the employer has a “legitimate business necessity” for the policy.

However, going forward, employers who intend to implement English-only policies, or who have existing English-only policies, must take measures to comply with the new statute’s notice provisions.

© 2010 Kiesewetter Wise Kaplan Prather, PLC