AUSTIN WRONGFUL TERMINATION ATTORNEYS
Unfortunately, not every employee who is terminated unfairly or for a bad reason is protected by Texas employment laws. Under Texas law, Texas employees are subject to employment “at will,” which means that in general, an employer may terminate an employee for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all. However, an employer may not terminate an employee (or otherwise subject him or her to an adverse employment action) for an unlawful reason.
Unlawful reasons for an employee’s termination are set forth in a variety of state and federal laws, which provide exceptions to “at will” employment in Texas. These laws dictate a number of remedies for employees who are terminated in violation of the law. Exceptions to “at will” employment in Texas include, but are not limited to, the following:
- A governmental employee fired for whistleblowing
- An employee fired on the basis of race, color, disability, religion, national origin, sex, or age
- An employee fired for reporting or complaining of the discrimination in the bullet point above
- An employee fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim
- An employee fired because of active-duty service or training in the state military forces
- An employee fired for serving on a jury
- A nursing-home employee fired for whistleblowing
- A hospital, mental health facility, or treatment facility fired for whistleblowing
- An employee fired for filing a wage or hour claim, or claim related to overtime
- An employee fired for reporting certain accounting regularities or securities-law violations pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Applicability of the exceptions to “at-will” employment in Texas may only be determined on a case by case basis and will depend on the facts and circumstances of each individual employment situation.