Employers Can be Sued for Wrongful Termination

By law, Texas has at will employment, meaning that, generally speaking, you can be fired at any time for any reason except an illegal reason. Our wrongful termination lawyers are well versed in the exceptions to the Texas employment at will doctrine. For instance, you may have a wrongful termination case depending upon the grounds for wrongful termination, particularly if you suffered discrimination such as:

• Age discrimination, including getting rid of older workers to make way for younger workers or selecting better qualified older workers instead of younger workers as part of a reduction in force;
• Sex discrimination, pregnancy discrimination or sexual harassment;
• Race discrimination or national origin discrimination;
• Disability discrimination; or
• Religious discrimination.

Wrongful termination in Texas also includes the situation where you were fired in retaliation for engaging in a protected activity such as requesting a reasonable accommodation for a disabled employee, reporting sexual harassment, filing or participating in an employment discrimination complaint with the EEOC or TWC, etc.

John Crouch, Attorney

Examples of Wrongful Termination

You may have a case if you are wrongfully terminated for making industry-specific complaints. Were you fired for complaining about health and safety violations? Were you fired for complaining about patient abuse? Were you terminated for complaining about financial irregularities? Were you fired for reporting a fraudulent billing of the federal government such as Medicare or Medicaid claims? Were you terminated for reporting an illegal act of a public corporation? Were you fired for refusing to engage in an unlawful act?

Can I Sue My Employer for Wrongful Termination?

Our wrongful termination lawyers can tell you if you have grounds for wrongful termination lawsuit. There are many violations of the law that qualify as under the wrongful termination definition. Some examples include the following:

• FLSA retaliation for requesting payment of overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act;
• FMLA retaliation for taking leave under the Family Medical Leave Act;
• Fired for filing a worker’s compensation claim;
• Terminated for joining the military or requesting military leave;
• Fired for requesting medical benefits; and
• Fired for requesting retirement benefits.

Can I Sue for Wrongful Termination?

Our attorneys for wrongful termination will assess your situation to see if you have an adverse employment action that can be used as grounds for wrongful termination lawsuit. Common fact patterns to the at will employment doctrine in Texas, for which you would have no case, include the following situations:

• No reason. Texas employers are not required to give one;
• A seemingly minor cause such as being late to work or violation of a smoking policy;
• Being singled out when less qualified workers kept their jobs;
• Refusal to relocate or accept a different position;
• Refusal to sign non-compete agreements or non-disclosure agreements;
• Reporting bad, but not illegal, behavior of a boss or co-worker; and
• Personality disputes between an employee and his or her manager.

If you were the victim of employment retaliation for any of the above reasons, you may have a claim for damages. Our wrongful discharge attorneys represent clients at many levels, in a wide variety of businesses. Kilgore & Kilgore has won substantial awards against many different types of employers.

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Reach Out to Us

To learn more about our wrongful termination and retaliation lawsuit practice or to schedule an appointment to discuss matters in confidence with a wrongful discharge attorney at our Dallas office, contact us. We offer a free review of the facts of your case with a Kilgore & Kilgore attorney.