El Paso Wrongful Termination Lawyers

You are a responsible worker for a company in El Paso. Your coworkers know you as a team player with stellar work ethic and a desire to execute every task effectively. But what happens if your employer asks you to do something that you believe might be illegal?

Let’s say you decide to resist the order to preserve your integrity and lose your job as a result. In these cases, the attorneys of Carabin Shaw believe that you deserve to maintain your employment for trying to do what is right.

Texas is an at-will employment state, which means that employers have the right to hire and fire employees as they deem fit. There are, however, some exceptions to these at-will employment laws. For example, if a worker refuses to comply with criminal or illegal acts and loses his or her job as a result, then this case would fall within the scope of wrongful termination.

You need to know that the law protects employees like you who refuse to partake in criminal activities. If you feel your employer fired you for the wrong reasons, consulting with wrongful termination lawyers in El Paso, Texas might help you figure out what to do next. If you want to pursue a settlement or appeal your termination, we can help.

One of the most common of the exceptions to the at-will employment statute in Texas is the Sabine Pilot doctrine. Sabine Pilot is a judge-made exception that came out of the 1985 Texas State Supreme Court case of Hauck v. Sabine Pilot. As a result of this case, the law protects employees who lost their jobs for refusing to commit an illegal act. For Sabine Pilot to apply, this refusal must be the sole reason for the worker’s termination.

After his superiors ordered him to dump the contents of the bilge into nearby waters, Michael Hauck, a deckhand on a ship for Sabine Pilot Services, refused to comply. Hauck refused his instructions because he observed nearby signs that clearly stated that dumping the bilge into these waters was illegal. He contacted the Coast Guard, which confirmed that the signs were correct.

Soon after, Sabine Pilot fired Hauck for insubordination. As a result, Hauck filed an employment lawsuit against his superiors. In court, Sabine Pilot argued that they terminated Hauck for his refusal of other orders that were legal and within the scope of his duties as a deckhand. However, Hauck eventually proved that his refusal to pump the bilges illegally was the sole reason for his firing, and the Sabine Pilot rule was born.

If you live in El Paso and believe your termination was wrongful, you may want to seek the opinion of a lawyer who has experience dealing with Texas employment laws. An attorney can assemble the facts of your case, research prior cases, and determine what compensation you may be entitled to obtain.

Whistleblower protection is critical for protecting employees who experience unjust or unethical treatment for their refusal to do something wrong. If this information resonates with you, looking into wrongful termination alongside a skilled lawyer is a natural next step toward securing justice.

The El Paso wrongful termination lawyers from Carabin Shaw can help you fight for your right to compensation if the Sabine Pilot exception applies to your case. With the help of an El Paso wrongful termination lawyer, you may be able to secure reparations in many areas, including:

• Loss of future wages
• Loss of wages
• Emotional damages
• Loss of benefits
• Pain and suffering

If you live in El Paso and you or someone you love has experienced employer retaliation or wrongful discharge, the El Paso wrongful termination lawyers of Carabin Shaw are here to support you in your pursuit of justice. We offer each new client a free consultation to help answer all your questions and strategize about our next steps together.

Contact the experienced El Paso employment lawyers of our firm today by dialing our local office at 915-779-2301.