Smith & Artrip, P.C.

Common-law retaliatory discharge. Gary M. Gossett v. Tractor Supply Company, Inc., Tennessee Court of Appeals at Nashville, Filed March 2, 2009. The Davidson County Chancery Court awarded summary judgment to the defendant employer where the plaintiff alleged he was discharged for refusing to participate in defendant’s allegedly illegal data reporting practices. The trial court awarded summary judgment to the defendant based upon Collins v. AmSouth Bank, 241 SW.3d 879 (Tenn.Ct.App. 2007), holding that reporting of the alleged illegal activity is a necessary element of the cause of action. To the extent that Collins required reporting of the illegal activity, the Court in Gossett disagreed. A common-law cause of action for retaliatory discharge may be maintained where an employer's termination of an at-will employee's employment is substantially motivated by the employee's refusal to participate in an illegal activity or one which violates a clear and well-defined public policy of this State. Collins v. AmSouth Bank is overbroad in so far as it is contrary to the holding in Gossett.