Opinion ID: 551844
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Texas Common Law of Torts

Text: 20 Finally, the lower court properly granted summary judgment on appellant's so-called public policy tort. Understandably, Judge Black had some difficulty understanding the thrust of this claim; Brown left clarification of this tort completely to the imagination, and his argument seems to involve a mishmashed analysis of the Texas common law of torts and contract. 5 Presumably, Brown's public policy tort refers to the trend in Texas to carve out exceptions to the at-will employee doctrine. That state's highest court has decided that a public policy halo surrounds the at-will employee doctrine; an employer may not fire an at-will employee if there is a public policy against the employer's action which is sufficiently compelling. Thus far, the Texas Supreme Court has recognized two such public policies. An employer cannot fire an employee either for refusing to commit an unlawful act or because the employee will soon become vested in a pension plan. McClendon v. Ingersoll-Rand Co., 779 S.W.2d 69, 71 (Tex.1989), cert. granted, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 1804, 108 L.Ed.2d 935 (1990). 21 Nevertheless, summary judgment was appropriate for Brown's claim. Although public policy has created some limited exceptions to the at-will employee doctrine, wrongful discharge because of race is not among them. Texas continues to subscribe to the common law rule that an employer may normally fire an at-will employee like Spiller for any reason whatsoever. Id. at 70; see also Maus v. National Living Centers, Inc., 633 S.W.2d 674, 677 (Tex.Civ.App.1982) (refusing to recognize contractual cause of action against health care provider for retaliatory discharge). Brown failed to cite a single case from Texas or any other state to support his allegation, and his conclusory claim was properly met by summary judgment.