Law Enforcement

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Workplace Violence Investigation Act

This bill requires law enforcement to investigate workplace bullying when looking into violent crimes and report findings to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).

What This Bill Does

• Requires police to look for signs of bullying at work when they are investigating violent crimes in the workplace.
• Police must tell the TBI what they find about bullying during their investigations.
• The TBI has to make an annual report on workplace bullying and violence and give it to certain committees in the state legislature.

Who It Names or Affects

• Law enforcement agencies
• Employees who experience or commit acts of bullying at work
• Employers whose workplaces are involved in violent crimes

Terms To Know

Bullying

Acts by an employee that harm another employee's well-being, such as causing physical harm or fear.

Crime of violence

A serious violent offense defined in Tennessee law.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how much it will cost to implement.
• It is unclear what actions employers must take based on the findings reported by police and TBI.

Official Summary Text

This bill requires a law enforcement agency that investigates a crime of violence in a workplace t
o concurrently make inquiry into whether bullying was occurring in the workplace and whether the crime of violence was a result of, or connected to, bullying. A law enforcement agency that conducts an inquiry pursuant to this bill must report the finding
s
to the TBI. This bill requires the TBI to annually compile the findings it receives from law enforcement agencies pursuant to this bill into a report on workplace bullying and violence and submit the report to the senate judiciary committee and the comm
i
ttee of the house of representatives with subject matter jurisdiction over criminal justice.

For purposes of this bill, "bullying" means an act committed in a workplace by an employee or former employee of an employer that operates the workplace and that
interferes with the employment benefits, opportunities, or performance of another person who is a current employee of the same employer that has the effect of:

(1) Physically harming the other employee or damaging the other employee's property; or

(2)
Knowingly placing the other employee in reasonable fear of physical harm to the other employee or damage to the other employee's property.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 1422
By Akbari

HOUSE BILL 1166
By Parkinson

HB1166
003188
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 38;
Title 39; Title 40 and Title 50, relative to workplace
violence.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 38, Chapter 1, is amended by adding
the following as a new part:
38-1-1001. Definitions.
As used in this part:
(1) "Bullying" means an act committed in a workplace by an employee or
former employee of an employer that operates the workplace and that interferes
with the employment benefits, opportunities, or performance of another person
who is a current employee of the same employer that has the effect of:
(A) Physically harming the other employee or damaging the other
employee's property; or
(B) Knowingly placing the other employee in reasonable fear of
physical harm to the other employee or damage to the other employee's
property;
(2) "Crime of violence" has the same meaning as defined in § 39-17-
1301; and
(3) "Workplace" means a factory, plant, office, or other facility where
employees produce goods or provide services.
38-1-1002. Investigations of bullying in the workplace; reporting.

- 2 - 003188

(a) When a law enforcement agency investigates a crime of violence in a
workplace, the investigation must include an inquiry into whether bullying was occurring
in the workplace and whether the crime of violence was a result of, or connected to,
bullying.
(b) A law enforcement agency that conducts an investigation pursuant to
subsection (a) shall report the findings of the inquiry to the Tennessee bureau of
investigation. By July 1, 2026, and by each July 1 thereafter, the Tennessee bureau of
investigation shall compile the findings it receives from law enforcement agencies
pursuant to this subsection (b) into a report on workplace bullying and violence and
submit the report to the senate judiciary committee and the committee of the house of
representatives with subject matter jurisdiction over criminal justice.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.