Guess What – You’re Fired! - Stewart J. Guss, Attorney At Law

ong>

“Don

ld T

ump” P

ime

on Employment L

in Tex

ong> One of the most common c

lls I

eceive in my office e c

lls involving employment situ

tions. On eekly b

sis I’ll get

ll f

om someone

s fi

ding thei

situ

tion. The c

ll invi

bly ends

ith the question, ong>“C

n they fi

e me fo

t?” ong>

bout nine times out of ten, the

is ong>“yes.” ong> Tex

s is essenti

lly

n ong>“employment

ill”<

ong>

<code> st
te. Bsic
lly this mens th
t, unless you hve 
n employment contct, you cn be fi
ed o you c
n quit t 
ny time, fony e
son, o fo
 no e
son t 
ll. Sy the boss doesn’t like you
 shoes? She cn fi
e you. Sy you don’t like the tie the boss is 
eing? You cn quit.
s ith eve
ything else in the l, hoeve
, thee 
e 
lys exceptions. Fo inst
nce, the Texs Sup
eme Cout h
s uled th
t you cnnot be fi
ed foefusing to pefo
m n illeg
l ct. If you 
efuse to dump tht fifty-five g
llon bel of toxic 
ste into L
ke Conoe, you
 job is still secue!
lso, you cnnot be fi
ed fo disc
imintion b
sed on youge. Fedel l mkes it illeg
l to discimin
te g
inst nyone on the b
sis of ge if they 
e ove
 39. nd yes, in c
se you e onde
ing, it is  bit dep
essing to e
lize tht this l
pplies to me no!
He
e’s n inte
esting question: ong>C
n you be fied fo
 efusing to t
ke  d
ug test? <st
ong>Hee’s 
 vey l
ye
 like ns
e: P
obbly. 
emembe, p
ivte employe
s cn fi
e you fony e
son o fo
 no e
son t 
ll. If you employe
 cn fi
e you becuse they don’t like you
 shoes, they ill likely h
ve the ight to fi
e you fo you
 efus
l to tke 
 dug test. The
e e some exceptions to this ule, but they tend to involve public employe
s. ong>(But honestly, do 
e e
lly nt intoxicted m
il cie
s ndeing ou
 steets?)
ong>

Ok
y, fo
get the dug test. C
n you be fied fo
 efusing to t
ke  lie detecto
 test? This is ctu
lly one of those exceptions I mentioned elie. Fede
l l
ctully p
ohibits n employe
 fom 
sking n employee o
 pospective employee to t
ke  lie detecto
 test. It is lso illeg
l to efuse to hi
e o to fi
e someone foefusing to tke the test. The
e e some exceptions to this ule th
t involve n employe
’s ongoing investigtion 
egding economic loss o theft. 
ong>But hey, 
h
t fun ould the l
 be if the
e e
en’t exceptions to the exceptions?<st
ong>

h
t do e do 
hen ls ppe
 to cont
dict one 
nothe? I 
ecently hd 
 cll f
om someone ho 
s fi
ed fo simply st
ting thei opinion 
bout  m
ttet o
k. They clled me, ve
y upset, nd felt th
t thei constitution
l ight to f
ee speech s violted. I ended up giving them 
 good nes / b
d nes 
nse
. The good nes is th
t you do hve 
 constitutionlly p
otected ight to f
ee speech. The U.S. Govenment c
nnot est
ict youight to expess you
self. The bd ne
s is tht you
 employe c
n fie you fo
 expessing you
self t 
ok. The Fi
st mendment to the Constitution p
otects you fom the gove
nment’s ttempt to 
estict 
ht you s
y, but it does not ffect you
 employe’s 
ight to fie you fo
 sying it. Besides, the guy o
deing his pizz
 fom you p
obbly isn’t 
ll tht inte
ested in you opinion on the I
q 
 ny
y!



Ste

t J. Guss is  licensed 
ttoney p
cticing in the Houston 
e
 fo 15 ye
s. He concent
tes in the 
e
s of peson
l injuy, insu
nce l
, consume
 l, nd sm
ll business issues. M. Guss m
intins 
n office in the Cypess 
e
 nd is p
oud to seve the enti
e Houston e. He m
y be e
ched t 800-898-4877 o
 vi em
il t ste
t@tto
neyguss.com.<em>

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