WHISTLEBLOWER AND OTHER RETALIATION CLAIMS:
UPDATE 2012
ROGER W. HUGHES
Adams & Graham, L.L.P.
P.O. Drawer 1429
Harlingen, TX 78551-1429
State Bar of Texas
24TH ANNUAL
SUING AND DEFENDING GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES COURSE
July 26-27, 2012
Austin
CHAPTER 20
Whistleblower and Other Retaliation Claims: Update 2012
Chapter 20
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.
PUNITIVE DAMAGES IN RETALIATION CASES: THE SAFESHRED CASE................................................ 1
II.
FIRST AMENDMENT RETALIATION ............................................................................................................... 2
A. Retaliation: Right to Petition ........................................................................................................................... 2
B. Retaliatory Arrests and Probable Cause: The Reichle Case. ........................................................................... 3
C. The Expansion of Garcetti for Official Speech. .............................................................................................. 3
D. Speech on Matters of Public Concern ............................................................................................................. 4
III. GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY AGAINST WORKER‟S COMPENSATION RETALIATION CLAIMS. ..... 4
IV. TEXAS WHISTLEBLOWER STATUTE. ............................................................................................................. 5
A. When a Complaint Asserts a “Violation of Law.” .......................................................................................... 6
B. Authority to Enforce or Regulate the Law Violated or to Investigate a Crime. .............................................. 7
C. Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies. ........................................................................................................ 8
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