Case Name: SABINE PILOT SERVICE, INC., Petitioner, v. Michael Andrew HAUCK, Respondent
Court: Supreme Court of Texas
Jurisdiction: Texas
Decision Date: 1985-04-03
Citations: 687 S.W.2d 733
Docket Number: No. C-3312
Parties: SABINE PILOT SERVICE, INC., Petitioner, v. Michael Andrew HAUCK, Respondent.
Judges: KILGARLIN, J., files a concurring opinion in which RAY, J., joins.
Reporter: South Western Reporter Second Series
Volume: 687
Pages: 733–736

Head Matter:
SABINE PILOT SERVICE, INC., Petitioner, v. Michael Andrew HAUCK, Respondent.
No. C-3312.
Supreme Court of Texas.
April 3, 1985.
Orgain, Bell & Tucker, Gilbert I. Low and Robert J. Hambright, Beaumont, Long, Parker, Doyle & Cichowaki, Carl A. Parker, Port Arthur, for petitioner.
Provost, Umphrey, McPherson & Swear-ingen, Greg Thompson, Port Arthur, for respondent.

Opinion:
WALLACE, Justice.
This is a suit for wrongful discharge brought by an employee, Michael Andrew Hauck. The trial court rendered summary judgment for Sabine Pilot Service, Inc., the employer. The court of appeals reversed the judgment of the trial court and remanded the cause for trial. 672 S.W.2d 322. We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.
Hauck was a deckhand for Sabine. He testified in deposition that he was instructed that one of his duties each day was to pump the bilges of the boat on which he worked. He observed a placard posted on the boat which stated that it was illegal to pump the bilges into the water. He called the United States Coast Guard and an officer confirmed that pumping bilges into the water was illegal; therefore, he refused to do so. He further testified that he was fired for refusing to illegally pump the bilges into the water.
Sabine testified through one of its officers that Hauck was discharged because he refused to swab the deck, man a radio watch and other derelictions of duty.
In reviewing the granting of a summary judgment we must accept as true the non-movant's version of the evidence and make every reasonable inference in the non-movant's favor. Gulbenkian v. Penn, 161 Tex. 412, 252 S.W.2d 929 (1952). To sustain the summary judgment the movant must establish as a matter of law that no genuine issue of material fact exists. City of Houston v. Clear Creek Basin Authority, 589 S.W.2d 671 (Tex.1979).
The sole issue for our determination is whether an allegation by an employee that he was discharged for refusing to perform an illegal act states a cause of action. This court in East Line & R.R.R. Co. v. Scott, 72 Tex. 70, 75, 10 S.W. 99, 102 (1888), held that employment for an indefinite term may be terminated at will and without cause. The courts of Texas have steadfastly refused to vary from that holding. However, in the last 30 years the courts of 22 states have made exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine and numerous commentators have advocated exceptions to the doctrine. The exceptions advocated by the commentators and adopted by various courts range from very liberal and broad exceptions to very narrow and closely defined ones. See Comment, The At-Will Doctrine: A Proposal to Modify the Texas Employment Relationship, 36 Baylor L.Rev. 667 (1984) for a thorough discussion of the reasoning and decisions of other states concerning this issue.
Sabine contends that any exception to the employment-at-will doctrine should be statutorily created. The Legislature has created exceptions to this doctrine. TEX.REV.CIV.STAT.ANN. art. 8307c (discharge for filing a worker's compensation claim); TEX.REV.CIV.STAT.ANN. art. 5207a (discharge based on union membership or nonmembership); TEX.REV.CIV. STAT.ANN. art. 5765 § 7A (discharge because of active duty in the State Military Forces); TEX.REV.CIV.STAT.ANN. art. 5207b (discharge because of jury service); TEX.REV.CIV.STAT.ANN. art. 5221k § 1.02, Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (discharge based on race, color, handicap, religion, national origin, age or sex). Although the Legislature has created those exceptions to the doctrine, this court is free to judicially amend a judicially created doctrine.
Upon careful consideration of the changes in American society and in the employer/employee relationship during the intervening 97 years since the East Line & R.R.R. Co. v. Scott decision, we hold that the situation which led to that decision has changed in certain respects. We now hold that public policy, as expressed in the laws of this state and the United States which carry criminal penalties, requires a very narrow exception to the employment-at-will doctrine announced in East Line & R.R.R. Co. v. Scott. That narrow exception covers only the discharge of an employee for the sole reason that the employee refused to perform an illegal act. We further hold that in the trial of such a case it is the plaintiffs burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that his discharge was for no reason other than his refusal to perform an illegal act.
The judgment of the court of appeals is affirmed.
KILGARLIN, J., files a concurring opinion in which RAY, J., joins.