Unless the company has a handbook or policy book that says that your wife is to be paid for the time, then the employer is not required to pay your wife for the missed time.  Texas is an at-will employment state which only requires payment for actual time worked.  The employer could have sent her home because work was slow, they were overstaffed, or they thought that she was out of dress code.  It is not illegal for the employer to tell the employee, "We aren't going to use you today."  The only time that it's illegal is when it's based on a discriminatory reason.  For example, they can't refuse to schedule her because of her gender, her sexual preferences, her age, or her ethnicity.  If refusing to let her work continues to be a problem, then your wife can leave the employer...again...because Texas is an at-will employment state. She does not need to stay with an employer that does not trust or respect her work ethic.