Well, the four whistleblowers who thought they had settled their claims with Ken Paxton perhaps did not. The four plaintiffs reacted to a statement from AG Ken Paxton’s office that if the state legislature does not authorize payment of the $3.3 million then they can try again next session – in two years. I previously wrote about that settlement here. The ink on that agreement was barely dry when Paxton’s office said the four plaintiffs may have to wait until the next legislative session which occurs in two years. The four plaintiffs then announced they would seek a return to the lawsuit.

The four whistleblowers said it was a “fundamental premise” that the agreement only pertained to this legislative session. If the state legislature would not pass the necessary appropriation, then they could return to court. That probably means the settlement agreement does not specifically address how long they would have to wait. Every settlement with the state is contingent on approval by some entity. But, how long do you wait? See San Antonio Express News report here.

Likely, the four plaintiffs are familiar with the whistleblower lawsuit from the 1990’s in which the plaintiff, George Green, had to repeatedly lobby the state legislature each session to pass the necessary appropriation. That plaintiff had to lobby the legislators himself for multiple sessions. Mr. Green won his trial, but still had to lobby himself state legislators to appropriate the funds necessary for the $10 million judgment.