Did You Know You Can Be Fired in Texas at Any Time for Any Reason?
If you work in the state of Texas, there's something very important to familiarize yourself with. That's the fact that Texas is an at-will employment state.
This means that your employer can fire you at any time for any reason, with few exceptions. Fadi Yousef, a Dallas attorney, explains that this means your employer can fire you for pretty much anything, including unfair, false, malicious or unethical reasons. However, there are exceptions to the rule.
As long as it doesn't break any laws or go against a contract that’s been put in place, any reason for firing an employee is valid. So, if you have a contract in place with your employer and your termination violates the agreement, it's not permitted.
The other way employers can’t fire their employees is if it violates any laws put in place. For example, if your termination violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It's illegal for an employer to fire someone due to their race, sex, pregnancy, religion, sexual orientation or national origin. This applies to any other laws in place that prevent discrimination in the workplace based on disability or age.
Yousef provides some examples of what forms of termination are not permitted in an at-will employment state that it's important to look at if you feel that your rights may have been infringed upon. You can also find more information about laws that protect employees from termination in this article published by Kennard Law.