Judges: JIM MATTOX, Attorney General of Texas
Filed Date: 8/18/1988
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/6/2016
Honorable Allen Hightower Chairman Corrections Committee Texas House of Representatives P. O. Box 2910 Austin, Texas 78769
Re: Circumstances under which a state employee may be discharged (RQ-1418)
Dear Representative Hightower:
You ask whether all state employees are employed `at will.' An `at will' employee serves at the will of the employer and can be fired for any reason. Eastline R. R. R. Co. v. Scott,
Under Texas law an employee hired for an unspecified period of time is generally an `at will' employee. See Sabine Pilot Service, Inc. v. Hauck,
Despite that general rule, however, a particular state employee may have a property interest in his employment protected by the
Some state employees are subject to statutes that create property interests by providing that dismissal must be for cause. See, e.g., Gov't Code §
When there is no statute to the contrary, agency regulations may also give rise to property interests. For example, university regulations that provided that an instructor-counselor at Texas AM University could only be dismissed for `adequate cause' gave rise to a property interest. Page v. DeLaune,
In summary, there is a general rule that state employees in Texas serve at will. To determine whether that general rule applies to a particular employee, however, it is necessary to examine relevant statutes and regulations and to determine whether express or implied promises have been made which limit the right of the statute to terminate an employee.
You should also be aware that the `at will' doctrine is limited by doctrines and statutes that prohibit termination of employment for certain reasons. For example, the state may not discharge employees for exercising their right to free speech. Rankin v. McPherson,
Very truly yours,
Jim Mattox Attorney General of Texas
Mary Keller First Assistant Attorney General
Lous McCreary Executive Assistant Attorney General
Judge Zollie Steakly Special Assistant Attorney General
Rick Gilpin Chairman Opinion Committee
Prepared by Sarch Woelk
Karen Gladney Assistant Attorneys General
Linda Page, Cross-Appellee v. Kathryn A. Delaune, Cross-... , 837 F.2d 233 ( 1988 )
Leonard Levitt v. The University of Texas at El Paso and ... , 759 F.2d 1224 ( 1985 )
John Batterton v. The Texas General Land Office , 783 F.2d 1220 ( 1986 )
Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth , 92 S. Ct. 2701 ( 1972 )
Perry v. Sindermann , 92 S. Ct. 2694 ( 1972 )
Rankin v. McPherson , 107 S. Ct. 2891 ( 1987 )
Sabine Pilot Service, Inc. v. Hauck , 687 S.W.2d 733 ( 1985 )