Employment

Kious, Rodgers, Barger, Holder & Kious, PLLC can provide you with an experienced attorney to represent you or your company in a wide variety of employment matters such as employment agreements, employee termination and wrongful termination, worker’s compensation, non-competition agreements, and discrimination. If employment disputes do arise, our goal is to assist you in the resolution of those disputes, and advise you as to how you can prevent these disputes from arising again in the future.† We represent both small and large companies and businesses throughout the Middle Tennessee area.
Legal Advice

Q: I was injured at work and filed a claim for worker’s compensation. Not long after filing the claim, I was fired. I had an excellent work record and had been given a positive performance review just before my injury. My employer said I was fired because I was late one day, but I think I was fired for filing a worker’s compensation claim. Is that legal?

A: Tennessee is an “employment at will” state. That means, as a general rule, an employer can discharge an employee-at-will for good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all. However, there is an exception to this rule where the employer has violated the established public policy of our state. It is the policy and law of this state that employees must be able to exercise their rights under the worker’s compensation laws without fear of reprisal or penalty from an employer. If your filing a worker’s compensation claim was a substantial factor motivating your employer’s decision to discharge you, then your employer may be guilty of retaliatory discharge entitling you to damages.