Coach Leach Amends his Petition

Posted on January 15, 2010 by Tom Crane

 An employment relationship that went bad.  It happens all the time from Burger King to any corporate boardroom.  When it happens in Lubbock, Texas to a major college coach, it becomes big news.  Mike Leach filed his Third Amended Petition in state court alleging breach of contract, wrongful termination,  among other things.  He has added new facts suggesting "outside forces" conspired to get him evicted.  But, as with any employment relationship, prior issues also serve as background evidence.  He had a difficult negotiation of his contract just last year.  

It is safe to assume Coach Leach had a "just cause" termination clause in his contract.  Otherwise, none of these new facts would be relevant.  If he did indeed abuse a player, then "just cause" means he could be fired without having to pay the remainder of his contract.  

"Just cause" means he could only be fired for a just or good reason.  Just cause is the opposite of "at-will."   Not all, but very many individual employment agreements contain some form of a just cause termination clause.  What is a just cause will be up to a jury.  Texas juries can be very conservative.  Coach Leach would have to show that Texas Tech did something more than reasonably rely on complaints from a concerned parent.  

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An Employer can Fire an Employee for the Wrong Reason

Posted on September 10, 2009 by Tom Crane

 I used to get referrals from the San Antonio Bar Association.  These referrals included many clients who had never spoken to a lawyer anywhere.  Many of them would call complaining basically about unfair treatment.  I still get calls like that, sometimes.  They might say, "my employer fired me because they claim I did not call in, but I did call in."  I have to explain to potential clients like this that in Texas, an employer can fire you for the wrong reason or even for a stupid reason.  I have talked about this before. 

We have what is known as "at-will" employment.  An employer can fire you for any reason (other than various types of discrimination).  Just as the employee can quit for any reason.  So, yes, even when the employer is wrong, even when you did call in sick and the employer just flat messed up and did not record your call, they can still fire you.  I wish that was not true.  I wish our state laws were different, that they required some sort of "just cause" for termination.  But, most states do not require just cause for a termination.  Only some 10 states require a good reason for a termination.  In the rest of the states, such as Texas, an employer can fire you for the wrong reason.  

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