AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 8; Title 38; Title 50; Title 62 and Title 68, relative to employment.
Summary
HB2074 would create a new employment-related right for employees and prospective employees in certain public safety jobs to review mental health evaluation records used by a public safety employer. The bill defines covered public safety positions broadly to include law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, volunteer rescue squad workers, certain EMS licensees, and private protective services personnel, as well as state and local government employers that require mental health screening as a condition of employment.
Under the bill, a public safety employer must give the employee or applicant reasonable access to the person’s full employment record, including mental health screening results and any evaluator reports. If a prospective employee is denied employment in whole or in part because of a mental health evaluation, the employer must also allow the person to submit an alternative equivalent evaluation at the person’s own expense and may reconsider the hiring decision based on that submission. The bill also creates a private cause of action for declaratory or injunctive relief if the access requirement is violated, and it makes the records subject to existing confidentiality rules.
Impact
The bill would amend Tennessee Code Annotated Title 50 by adding a new section governing access to mental health evaluation records in public safety hiring and employment. It would affect state and local public safety employers, applicants, and employees in covered occupations, and it would require employers to provide access to records that may otherwise be kept confidential, while preserving confidentiality protections under the public records law. It also exposes employers to litigation and attorney-fee liability if they fail to provide the required access.
Sentiment
The available voting history suggests the bill was received favorably in committee, with unanimous or near-unanimous support in both the House Banking and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee and the House Commerce Committee. No committee transcript is available, but the votes indicate broad agreement on advancing the measure. The bill text itself suggests a policy balance between employer screening authority and individual access rights, which may have helped it move forward without recorded opposition in the available history.
Contention
The main point of contention is likely the tension between public safety employers’ use of mental health screening to assess fitness for sensitive positions and applicants’ or employees’ interest in seeing and challenging those results. Employers may be concerned about administrative burden, confidentiality, and the possibility of second-guessing hiring decisions, while employees and applicants may view the bill as a due-process protection against opaque or potentially unfair mental health-based employment decisions. The private right of action and fee-shifting provision could also be a concern for employers because it increases legal exposure.
AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 8; Title 33; Title 36; Title 37; Title 48; Title 49; Title 52; Title 53; Title 55; Title 56; Title 62; Title 63 and Title 68, relative to health.
AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 8; Title 33; Title 36; Title 37; Title 48; Title 49; Title 52; Title 53; Title 55; Title 56; Title 62; Title 63 and Title 68, relative to health.
AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 29; Title 33; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40; Title 41; Title 43; Title 45; Title 50; Title 53; Title 63; Title 67; Title 68 and Title 71, relative to cannabis.
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