Court Opinion

ID: 9772952
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 17:33:56.601583+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:49.479186
License: Public Domain

STEPHEN F. PRESLAR, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. For all the wonderful things that have been written about the right of citizens to petition their government, it is clear they have no application here. This is a dispute between employees and their employer. Article I, sec. 27 of the Constitution of Texas is for citizens-government disputes or grievances. In full it says:
Sec. 27. Right of assembly; petition for redress of grievances. The citizens shall have the right, in a peaceable manner, to assemble together for their common good; and apply to those invested with the powers of government for redress of grievances or other purposes, by petition, address or remonstrance.
The petition in this case alleges that the Board of Trustees of the Appellee had under consideration a proposed change in their official policy regarding tenure and dismissal, and that Appellants presented a written “remonstrance” signed by a majority of the tenured faculty to the Board, and the Board made no response to the remonstrance and thus violated their rights under Article I, sec. 27. Clearly this is an employee-employer matter and has nothing to do with any violation by the government of any right or grievance of its citizens.
I agree with the trial court that there is no cause of action for the court to act on. There has been no denial of a right which a court of law can order corrected. At best, assuming all that is alleged is true, the Board has not responded to the remonstrance, so the presumption is that they did not consider it. The relief which the courts can grant is to tell the Board to consider it. That is all that is involved in this case, and it is not a matter for the courts but is solely for the Board in the exercise of its authority.
As employees of the Appellee, Appellants have a right under Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 5154c, sec. 6 (Vernon 1971), “to present grievances concerning their wages, hours of work, or conditions of work individually or through a representative .... ” That statute and/or any contract of their employment with Appellee governs employee-employer disputes. “Remonstrance” is a good-sounding word, but lifted alone out of the Constitution, not being the subject of any enabling legislation and in fact not appearing elsewhere in Texas law, it can not be controlling of an employee-employer relationship. I would affirm the judgment of the trial court.
Before STEPHEN F. PRESLAR, C.J., and WARD and OSBORN, JJ.