Under Federal and Texas law you can only sue your employer for discrimination. As an El Paso, Texas employment lawyer I have many employees who come see me tell me they really want to sue their supervisor who has been harassing them or retaliation and discriminating against them. While there was some question at one […]
The Sabine Pilot doctrine provides a cause of action for an employee who was discharged for refusing to commit an illegal act. Sabine Pilot Service, Inc. v. Hauck, 687 S.W.2d 733 (Tex.1985). Your employer cannot fire you if you refuse to do an illegal act. However, if you work for the government (city, state school
In Texas it is illegal to fire someone who refuses to do an illegal act. However, some actions an employee refuses to commit are prohibited by federal laws that have their own anti-retaliation protections. Some employers have tried to keep employees from suing for refusing to do an illegal act by claiming that the employee
The cause of action for refusing to do an illegal act in Texas requires a plaintiff to prove that refusal to commit an illegal act was the “sole” reason for the discharge. The “sole” reason standard is more difficult to satisfy than the “motivating factor” standard of for most wrongful termination claims, and it might
Whistleblowing is not protected by the Whistleblower Act unless a whistleblower’s report is to an “appropriate law enforcement authority. See Gov’t Code Ann. § 554.002. First, it should be understood that the whistleblower act of Texas only applies to government employees. There is no general whistleblower statute for employees of private non-government employees. It is
I have written at length about the Texas Whistleblower Act and that you must be a government employee who reported illegal activity to an appropriate law enforcement agency: https://rogerdavie.com/news/whistleblowing-is-not-p…, https://rogerdavie.com/news/before-a-a-government-e… Before filing a whistleblower suit, a government employee “must initiate action under the grievance or appeal procedures” of the employer entity. Tex. Gov’t Code §
I have written at length about the Texas Whistleblower Act and that you must be a government employee who reported illegal activity to an appropriate law enforcement agency: (https://rogerdavie.com/news/whistleblowing-is-not-p…. Also under the grievance procedure you no only must report the illegal act to the appropriate law enforcement agency and file the grievance (even if there
I have written at length about the Texas Whistleblower Act and that you must be a government employee who reported illegal activity to an appropriate law enforcement agency: (1. https://rogerdavie.com/news/whistleblowing-is-not-p….; https://rogerdavie.com/news/before-filing-a-whistle…; 2. https://rogerdavie.com/news/the-courts-hold-that-yo…; 3. https://rogerdavie.com/news/before-filing-a-whistle… However there is one more issue dealing with retaliation and that is evidence of a decision-maker’s knowledge of an employee’s
As an El Paso employment lawyer I see a lot of fired employees who don’t necessarily want to sue for wrongful termination but want to be paid for commission that they believe they are owed but remains unpaid. The law generally says that you are owed the commission unless the commission agreement says that it
As a general rule you can sue someone who makes a false statement about you that hurts your reputation subject to certain privileges. You should note that if the statement or reference is true or is an opinion it is not subject to a lawsuit for defamation (libel/slander). A former employer’s response to a prospective