Legal Question in Employment Law in Texas

I was terminated because I would not make my truck drivers opeate their trucks after they were out of hours for legal operation.They were on a job for my bosses sons yard. I brought them home before they were out of hours. the job had not started and had been repeatedly postponed.when my boss showed up he was mad because I would not operate illegally.Then he said I had hired drivers with no haz mat endorsements on their cdl's. This was not company policy. My boss said we didn't need to hire anyone that didn't have this endorsement because his sons yard which was 2 hours away kept loosing jobs that needed this. I told him I couldn't handle the work I had and we did not need this endorsement. I told him we would hire people with this and we were making current drivers go get this.but I did hire people just loike we had done using the same requirements as the last two years.I have never been written up nor verbally repremanded for anything.After he fired me he said I had to fire my wife . I said you want your terminated manager to fire the office help ,He said you goy it.She was out of town at a funeral. She had never been in trouble for anything either.


Asked on 3/03/10, 6:26 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Joe Gilbreath The Gilbreath Law Firm, PLLC

A Sabine Pilots claim may arise in Texas when an employee is terminated by his employer solely for refusing to perform an illegal act. This type of claim was named after the first Texas Supreme Court case to recognize the cause of action. See Sabine Pilots Serv., Inc. v. Hauck, 687 S.W.2d 733 (Tex. 1985). This cause of action exists only against the employer (usually an entity). Physio GP, Inc. v. Naifeh --- S.W.3d ----, 2010 WL 374515 Tex.App.-Houston [14 Dist.],2010. You should seek counsel who can evaluate your potential claim.

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Answered on 3/09/10, 1:15 pm


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