Tennessee — Workplace Discrimination

The Tennessee Human Rights Act (THRA) prohibits employers from discriminating based on race, creed, color, religion, sex, age (forty years of age or older), and national origin. This protection applies to hiring and all terms and conditions of employment. The THRA covers employers with eight or more employees in Tennessee for each working day in twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year (tracking the federal Title VII coverage language).

Protected classes under THRA are set by Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-401(a). "Employer" is defined at Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-102(4), establishing the eight-employee threshold. Religious corporations or associations are not covered with respect to employment of individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected with their activities (Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-403(d)). As of June 2026, the THRA statutory text does not provide an explicit definition of "sex"—it is silent on whether this covers sexual orientation or gender identity.

Note: Enforcement authority for the Act transferred in July 2025 from the Tennessee Human Rights Commission to the Civil Rights Enforcement Division of the Tennessee Attorney General's Office. The authority transfer is not yet reflected in the THRA statutes themselves (statutory text is silent on this point).

Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-401; Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-102(4); Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-403(d)

The Tennessee Human Rights Act (THRA) prohibits employers from discriminating against employees or applicants for employment based on race, creed, color, religion, sex, age (if forty years of age or older), or national origin. This prohibition covers failing or refusing to hire, discharging, or otherwise discriminating with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, as well as limiting, segregating, or classifying employees or applicants to deprive them of employment opportunities. The THRA applies to employers with eight or more employees in Tennessee for each working day in twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year (Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-102(4)). Religious corporations or associations are exempt regarding the employment of individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected with religious activities (Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-403(d)).

Effective July 1, 2022, an additional prohibition applies under the Tennessee CROWN Act, codified at Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-1-313. Covered employers (those subject to THRA coverage) may not adopt a policy or take adverse action that discriminates against an individual for wearing "protective hairstyles" (which include braids, locs, twists, or other such hairstyles associated with race). Employers may still require hair to be neat and clean, but cannot prohibit a protected hairstyle on the basis of its racial or ethnic association. There is an exception for grooming requirements that are necessary to comply with federal or state law, rules, or regulations for health or safety reasons, as specified at Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-1-313(e).

As of the last confirmed statutory update, "sex" under the THRA is not expressly defined to include sexual orientation or gender identity. The statute is silent on these characteristics; coverage status remains unresolved in the statutory text. The statute also does not specify enforcement authority within its text. If statutory transfer of enforcement authority to the Civil Rights Enforcement Division (CRED) of the Attorney General's Office has occurred, it is not reflected in the THRA as currently published.

Sources:

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-401
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-102
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-403
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-1-313

Filing deadline with the Civil Rights Enforcement Division (CRED):

To bring a claim of workplace discrimination under the Tennessee Human Rights Act (THRA), an employee or applicant must file a written complaint with the state enforcement agency within 180 days of the alleged discriminatory act. Per Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-302, this period is measured from the date the alleged act occurred, not the date it was discovered or reported. As of June 2026, post-enforcement transition, this complaint is processed by the Civil Rights Enforcement Division (CRED) of the Tennessee Attorney General's Office, though the statute still names the Tennessee Human Rights Commission (THRC). The underlying deadline and workflow in § 4-21-302 remain unchanged.

Deadline to file a private civil action in state court:

A private civil action for workplace discrimination must be filed within one year after the alleged discriminatory practice has ceased. Most notably, proceeding with an administrative complaint does NOT extend (toll) the one-year deadline to file in court. The statute states: "A civil cause of action...shall be filed...within one (1) year after the alleged discriminatory practice ceases" (Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-311(d)). If a party seeks judicial review of a final administrative order, the petition for review must be filed within 30 days of the final order's entry—not as a traditional appeal, but as a new statutory action described in § 4-21-311.

Key citations:

• Administrative complaint: Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-302 (180 days)
• Private action: Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-311(d) (one year after practice ceases; 30 days for judicial review of final order)

Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-302; Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-311

The Tennessee Human Rights Act (THRA) provides both administrative and court-based remedies for proven violations, with statutory caps on certain categories of damages, based on employer size.

Remedies available:

• Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-306(a), the enforcing agency (and by incorporation, the courts per § 4-21-311(b)) may order "affirmative action" to effectuate the Act’s purpose. This can include:
• Hiring, reinstatement, or promotion of employees, with or without back pay (reduced by interim earnings under § 4-21-306(a)(1)).
• Admission or restoration to union membership.
• Posting of notices about employee rights.
• "Damages for humiliation and embarrassment."
• "Reasonable attorney's fees and costs."
• "Other remedies as may, in the judgment of the commission, be necessary and proper to eliminate all the discrimination identified."

Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-306

• When bringing a private civil action, a prevailing party may obtain injunctive relief and, by express statutory reference, "the remedies contained in § 4-21-306 and actual damages" (Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-311(b)). The statute does not expressly authorize punitive damages except for discriminatory housing practices or malicious harassment under other subsections.

Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-311

Statutory caps on non-pecuniary damages:

• Compensatory damages for "emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other nonpecuniary losses" are subject to statutory caps, based on employer size at the time of the alleged discrimination:
• Fewer than 15 employees: $25,000
• 15–100 employees: $50,000
• 101–200 employees: $100,000
• 201–500 employees: $200,000
• More than 500 employees: $300,000

These per-complainant limits are set by Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-313(a).

• "The court shall not inform the jury of these limitations," and must adjust any verdict that exceeds them (§ 4-21-313(c)).
• These limits "do not apply" to back pay, front pay, interest on back pay, or any equitable relief (§ 4-21-313(b)).

Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-313

Punitive damages:

• The THRA does not allow punitive damages for ordinary employment discrimination claims (see § 4-21-306 and § 4-21-311). The only explicit exceptions are for housing or malicious harassment cases, which are governed by different subsections not generally applicable to workplace discrimination.

Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-306; Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-311; Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-313