As I understand it, and IANAL, the legal concept for wrongful termination in Texas is that a person cannot be fired for a reason that is a violation of public policy. The most common reason noted is for discrimination against a protected class. The protected classes include age (if over 40), gender, race, religion, handicap, national origin, and previous servitude (yep, still in the law). In some states, gender orientation is also a protected class but not in Texas yet. In Texas, carrying a firearm in your car is now a protected class by virtue of our parking lot law.oohrah wrote:Again wrong. The law protects the employee from prosecution for violating a law. It cannot protect an employee from company policies. And I know 30.06 only applies to "premises" (the legal definition). The parking lot law would protect you from being fired for that reason, but it doesn't matter.
Texas is an "at will" employment state. You can quit anytime you want, and you can be let go any time they want. No reasons have to be given. Example - layoffs.
Now, you have brought up discrimination issues. Yes, these are valid, and an employee can sue and try to prove this, and receive damages. But it doesn't change the basic "at will" situation.
You can be fired, but if you are fired for this reason, you should prevail in a wrongful termination lawsuit. You should then win your job back and other damages. I am not sure if I would want to continue working there after that, but you might really like the job.
And remember, it is up to you to prove the reason you were fired. If they are stupid enough to say so, you may have an easy case, but very rarely will they give you the actual reason unless they know it will stand up in court.