In Texas, an employer may fire an employee at any time for any reason –whether it’s a good reason, a bad reason, or for no reason at all – unless the reason you’ve been fired violates a legal protection.
Some examples are:
- A discharge may not be based upon a person's race, color, religion, gender, age, national origin, disability, or citizenship
- Protected activity – something the law entitles an employee to do without fear of retaliation)
- Bringing suspected wrongdoing to the attention of competent government authorities (state and federal whistleblowing statutes)
- Filing various types of claims such as OSHA, federal wage and hour, workers' compensation, employment discrimination, etc.
- It is illegal to discharge an employee for refusing to commit a criminal act
- If a discharge would violate an express employment agreement, it would be a wrongful discharge, and this includes collective bargaining agreements
- In a recent Texas case, a court ruled against a company that had failed to enforce its anti-nepotism policy for 17 years and then suddenly fired an employee who was known all that time to have violated the policy.
If you were fired for any reason at all, you may need to speak with an Experienced Employment Law Attorney to determine whether you have a claim.