Employment Law

Wrongful Discharge and Sexual Harassment

Employment law refers to all the state and federal legislation, case law, and related standards of conduct that apply to the employer-employee relationship in our state. One of the most common employment-related offenses is discrimination, which often goes hand-in-hand with workplace harassment of any kind. The law forbids discrimination on the basis of certain "protected statuses" in any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment. Those protected classes include:

• Disability
• Military status
• Race or ethnicity
• Religion
• Sex/Gender
• Age
• Pregnancy

You cannot be treated poorly at work, or denied a position, based on any of these characteristics. You also have the right to feel safe and secure from harassment by your employer, your supervisors and your peers. If you are harassed and abused at work because of who you are or what you believe, you may have a claim for hostile work environment. If you were fired due to discrimination, you might have a case for wrongful termination.

Sexual harassment is considered a form of gender discrimination—the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) defines workplace sexual harassment as "unwelcome sexual advances or conduct of a sexual nature which unreasonably interferes with the performance of a person’s job or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment." While sexual harassment may be the most well-known to employees, harassment can occur because of your race, your ethnic background, your religion – indeed, any of the forms discrimination takes. When it does, the Gilbert Firm is prepared to fight on your behalf to uphold your rights.

Protecting Employees From Retaliation

Retaliation refers to when an employee is treated poorly, demoted, or fired in response to the employee’s protected actions. For example, if you were retaliated against for filing a sexual harassment lawsuit, this may be cause to pursue additional damages. Other forms of retaliation include blowing the whistle on illegal conduct.

Additional Employment Law Services for Tennessee Clients

The Firm helps clients with a variety of other employment law matters, from contract problems to False Claim Act (Qui Tam) lawsuits. We are often called upon to assist clients in claims and cases regarding:

• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) violations
• Breach of contract
• Severance and non-competition agreements
• Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act
• False Claims Act (qui tam)
• Equal Pay Act
• Interference with contract and/or business relationships

Gilbert Law has a long and successful history of assisting individuals in matters of wrongful discharge, harassment, unequal wages, and other employment disputes. In 2020, Gilbert law initiated one of the largest class actions in East Tennessee involving failure to pay non-exempt high earning salaried workers all monies earned.