Austin Whistleblower Lawsuit

In February 2009, a Travis County jury awarded a woman $900,000.00 after finding that she was fired from her job at Texas civil rights agency for complaining about discrimination against minorities at the agency, according to an article from an Austin, Texas newspaper.  See, Osborn, Claire, “Jury Awards Whistle-Blower $900,000,” Austin American-Statesman, 2/4/09, http://www.statesman.com .  As stated in the article, the jury arrived at the verdict after a six-day trial in a lawsuit which Merilou Morrison filed against the Texas Commission on Human rights and the Texas Workforce Commission (”TWC”).  The TWC Civil Rights Division enforces the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act; which has been codified into Texas Labor Code, Chapter 21.  Austin attorney Gary Bledsoe was quoted in the article as saying that “The agency that is supposed to enforce civil rights is being hit with basically a million dollar judgment for violating the very statutes they are required to enforce.”  According to the article, Morrison, who is white, was a 58 year-old investigator at the Texas Commission on Human Rights when she told agency commissioners in December 2002 that the agency’s former director was discriminating against black and Hispanic employees and applicants.  In this regard, an attorney representing Morrison in the lawsuit was quoted as saying that “Her allegations were that the agency was bringing in white employees from the outside who had no experience or interest in civil rights to be put in positions above qualified minority employees.” 

Whether unlawful retaliation for opposing or reporting employment discrimination occurs in Austin, New Braunfels, San Marcos or elsewhere, whistleblowers may contact an attorney or lawyer to determine if a whistleblower lawsuit may ultimately be appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential unlawful employment practice claim.