Tennessee law requires that a disqualifying psychological finding be tied to a specific DSM-listed impairment that affects the officer’s ability to perform essential job functions. The appeals court found that threshold was never met.
After years of procedural back-and-forth, the Board reconsidered the full evidentiary record in 2023 and ruled that the testimony of Evans-Barken’s two expert psychologists was more credible and reliable. It ordered Evans-Barken reinstated. A trial court judge reversed that decision, but the appeals court disagreed, finding the Board’s conclusion was supported by substantial evidence and that its credibility determinations were entitled to deference.
The court also noted that the POST Commission never actually revoked Evans-Barken’s certification and never sent her any notice of adverse action. Evans-Barken testified, without dispute, that she was currently POST certified and working in a certified law enforcement position with another department.
Under the Madison County Sheriff’s Civil Service Law of 2015, an employee whose termination is disapproved is entitled to reinstatement with full pay and rights from the date of discharge. The court remanded the case for any further proceedings on back pay, if necessary.
For HR professionals, the case is a pointed reminder that fitness-for-duty evaluations must actually support the conclusion an employer draws from them. An evaluation that finds no clinical pathology yet still recommends disqualification – without establishing the causal link the law requires – is a shaky foundation for a termination decision. When that foundation crumbles, the cost is not just legal exposure. In this case, it may amount to ten years of back pay.
