Opinion ID: 2831207
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: TPPA as a statute independent of GTLA

Text: The TPPA provides that “[n]o employee shall be discharged or terminated solely for refusing to participate in, or for refusing to remain silent about, illegal activities.” Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-1-304(b). It goes on to state that “[a]ny employee terminated in violation of subsection (b) shall have a cause of action against the employer for retaliatory discharge and any other damages to which the employee may be entitled.” Id. § 50-1-304(d)(1) (emphasis added). Thus, the TPPA sets out certain prohibited conduct in section 50-1-304(b), creates in section -304(d)(1) a cause of action for those who have been subjected to this prohibited conduct, and finally defines, in section -304(a), the “[e]mployee[s]” who may bring this cause of action and the “[e]mployer[s]” against whom it may be brought. The TPPA also provides for recovery of attorney‟s fees6 and includes a safeguard against frivolous claims.7 All together, these provisions form an 6 See Id. § 50-1-304(d)(2) (“Any employee terminated in violation of subsection (b) solely for refusing to participate in, or for refusing to remain silent about, illegal activities who prevails in a cause of action against an employer for retaliatory discharge for the actions shall be entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees and costs.”). 7 See Id. § 50-1-304(f)(2) (“If any employee files a cause of action for retaliatory discharge for any improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause needless increase in costs to the employer, the court, upon motion or upon its own initiative, shall impose upon the employee an appropriate sanction, which -8- independent and comprehensive statutory scheme which removes governmental immunity independent of the GTLA. Moreover, the Legislature‟s 1997 amendment to the TPPA, made subsequent to early court decisions barring TPPA claims against governmental entities, further supports our conclusion that the TPPA is not subject to the procedural requirements of the GTLA. It is a fundamental tenet of statutory construction that this Court must presume that the Legislature knows the law and makes new laws accordingly. Lee Med., Inc. v. Beecher, 312 S.W.3d 515, 527 (Tenn. 2010); Lavin v. Jordon, 16 S.W.3d 362, 368 (Tenn. 2000). When presented with judicial decisions interpreting the GTLA as barring TPPA claims against governmental entities, the Legislature chose to amend the TPPA instead of the GTLA. By making this choice, the Legislature established the TPPA as an “„independent bod[y] of law‟” outside the purview of the GTLA. Sneed, 459 S.W.3d at 25 (quoting Cruse, 922 S.W.2d at 496). The GTLA, originally enacted seventeen years before the TPPA and amended numerous times since its enactment, contains a number of exceptions to the general grant of immunity found in Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-20-201(a). See Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 29-20-202 through -205. Had the Legislature intended to subject TPPA claims to the procedural requirements of the GTLA, it easily could have amended the GTLA to remove immunity for TPPA claims, instead of amending the TPPA to specifically allow suit against governmental entities. Consequently, similar to the THRA, the Legislature‟s treatment of TPPA claims evinces an intent that such claims are not “brought under” the GTLA. Rather, they are brought under the TPPA, an independent statute which establishes its own rights and remedies apart from the procedures that apply under the GTLA.