San Antonio Employment Law Blog : San Antonio Employment Lawyer & Attorney : Thomas Crane Law Firm : South Texas, Bexar County TX Wage & Discrimination Issues

Texas, like some 40 states, is an at-will state.  That means an employer can fire an employee for any reason, so long as the reason is not discriminatory or in violation of the very few protected activities.  Yet, some employees still think they can disrespect their employer.  See the story about Charlie Sheen.  He has referred to one of his employers as "whatshischeese" and "whatshiscock" in published reports.  He described the wife of his executive producer as unattractive.  These are things no employee should say in public.  

Mr. Sheen has referred to his employment agreement several times.  So, I presume he is one of the lucky few who have a contractual agreement that he can only be fired for good cause or fair cause.  But, under any standard I am familiar with, disrespecting your employer is good cause.  Any local Texas jury would surely agree.

I have screened many employment calls over the years.  One I recall referred to some incident in which he was accused of cursing his employer.  The caller assured me he did not cuss his employer twice - only once.  He seemed to understand quickly when I explained that cussing your employer even once is cause for termination.  Under at-will employment, any reason is adequate.  But, in cussing even once, that caller lost his right to unemployment benefits.  Unemployment benefits are based on good cause.  An employee in general will receive unemployment benefits if the employee loses his/her job through no fault of his/hers.  With or without unemployment benefits, an employer can fire an employee for disrespect.  

So, sure, an employer can fire you for cussing him just one time.  And, I think, even the famous can be fired for referring to the employer in public as "whatshischeese."  

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In most private sector jobs, if you were suspended 17 times by your employer, you would be out of a job.  But, Officer Lee Rakun is still appealing his latest suspension from the San Antonio Police Department.  See San Antonio Express-News story.  In fact, Officer Rakun received his first suspension within a year of starting with the police force.  The SAPD has an active union and a strong Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).  So, that helps explain Officer Rakun's tenacity.

The advantage of CBA's is that they typically require some form of "good cause" for termination.  An employee can only be fired for good cause.  Without a CBA, the rest of us are subject to Texas' "at will" employment.  "At will" employment means the employer can terminate anyone for any reason (other than discrimination and a few other exceptions).  The employee handbook so many of us have at our jobs say an employee will be fired for certain infractions.  But, employee handbooks are not binding and they are often violated by the employer. 

So, the next time you are fired for "excessive absences" or because after 14 years of no errors, you are accused of failing to account for one $15 expense, think about unions and Officer Rakun's appeal of his 17th suspension.  

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Frequently, employees call me and tell me with breathless excitement that the employer is violating some law, the caller knows it and then they pause.  They seem to expect me to say, "well, then, ignore them" or "well, ok, then tell them to jump in the lake."  ....  No, we cannot say those things. 

I sympathize with the caller's plight.  But, unless you have a court order in hand, or unless they are asking you to perform an illegal act, you have to do what the employer says.  Period.  

We see this in a case described by a pro-employer blog, Texas Employment Law Update by Russ Cawyer: Uranga v. Nationwide.  This is a decision rendered by the state court of appeals in El Paso. The employee worked for Nationwide from 2003 to 2005.  The employee claimed he was not paid overtime; he believed the employer was acting in bad faith to build a record to fire him; and that he was about to be paid off.  So, he quit.  Meanwhile, the employer had been trying to meet with the agent to discuss perceived performance issues.  On three occasions, the employee failed to appear for these meetings. The employer then came to understand from others that the employee had stopped coming to the office for two months and had removed the computer equipment.  Mr. Uranga apparently quit.  He applied for unemployment benefits.  But, Nationwide argued that the employee had abandoned his job.  

The El Paso court found in favor of the employer.  The supervisor sent a letter to Mr. Uranga saying he had abandoned his job.  There is no mention in the report of Mr. Uranga formally quitting.  There is no indication that he objected to the letter from his supervisor.  Yes, even when you believe you are being treated unfairly or unlawfully, you, as an employee, need to tell your employer that you are quitting.  

If an employee quits for good reason, s/he might receive unemployment benefits.  But, here, Mr. Uranga could not even show that he notified the employer that he had quit.  Apparently, there was no letter, no memo, no note.  And, he missed a few meetings with his supervisor.   These are all good reasons for termination.  If he felt he was owed overtime pay, then he should have filed a complaint with Department of Labor or Texas Workforce Commission.  You cannot just ignore a boss you believe is violating the law or mistreating you. 

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