2019 Tennessee Code
Title 50 - Employer and Employee
Chapter 1 - Employment Relationship and Practices
Part 5 - Healthy Workplace Act
§ 50-1-502. Part definitions.
- As used in this part:
(1) “Abusive conduct” means acts or omissions that would cause a reasonable person, based on the severity, nature, and frequency of the conduct, to believe that an employee was subject to an abusive work environment, such as:
(A) Repeated verbal abuse in the workplace, including derogatory remarks, insults, and epithets;
(B) Verbal, nonverbal, or physical conduct of a threatening, intimidating, or humiliating nature in the workplace; or
(C) The sabotage or undermining of an employee's work performance in the workplace;
(2) “Agency” means any department, commission, board, office or other agency of the executive, legislative or judicial branch of state government;
(3) “Employee” means an employee of any county, metropolitan government, municipality, or other political subdivision of this state;
(4) “Employer” means a private employer and a state or local governmental entity;
(5) “Harassment” means two (2) or more instances of contact serving no legitimate purpose directed at an employee, in connection with that person's status as an employee, that a reasonable person would consider alarming, threatening, intimidating, abusive, or emotionally distressing and that does or reasonably could interfere with the performance of the employee's duties; and
(6) “Instance of contact” means a direct communication or physical touching.
