Court Opinion

ID: 9691534
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 20:37:42.308914+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:22.233835
License: Public Domain

EVELYN V. KEYES, Justice,
dissenting from denial of motion for rehearing en banc.
I respectfully dissent from denial of rehearing. I believe the original dissenting opinion that was issued in this case is correct.
When a public employee is suspended or terminated for reporting violations of law by a governmental entity, the Whistleblower Act permits the employee two exclusive avenues to sue the State. The employee may either (1) exhaust the grievance proceedings and file suit within 30 days of the date of exhaustion or (2) terminate the grievance proceedings and file suit within the time remaining under the Act. Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 554.006(d). The majority opinion creates a third option — the employee may continue grievance proceedings while suing the state. By holding as it does, the majority overturns established law in this jurisdiction1 and creates a jurisprudence for plaintiffs within the jurisdiction of this court that is at odds with the other courts of appeals that have construed the Act,2 with pernicious consequences.
By allowing employees to ignore the election provision, the majority permits employees to pursue grievance proceedings and lawsuits simultaneously in different forums. It thus invites duplicative proceedings, violating the principle of judicial economy the legislature intended to further by enacting section 554.006(d) and, instead, encouraging the waste of judicial and legal resources;3 it discourages voluntary settlement of employee grievances (an additional purpose of the exhaustion provision4); and it invites inconsistent outcomes between administrative and legal proceedings. As the dissent discusses, the consequence of this holding is not only to distance this court from the vast majority of appeals courts of this state which have considered the requirements of the Act, but also to distinguish the Act in this jurisdiction from the many similar statutes in which exhaustion of administrative remedies is a jurisdictional prerequisite to filing suit.5
*294For the foregoing reasons, I believe the Court should grant rehearing, withdraw and vacate its August 22, 2003 en banc opinion, and adopt the dissenting opinion as the opinion of the en banc court.

. Univ. of Houston Sys. v. Lubertino, 95 S.W.3d 423, 427 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2002, no pet.). In Lubertino, this Court recently held that an employee who simultaneously sought to pursue her grievance proceedings and a lawsuit after the 60-day waiting period did not comply with section 554.006(d)’s election provision and, therefore, did not maintain jurisdiction in the trial court. Id.

. See, e.g., Smith v. Univ. of Tex. Southwestern Med. Ctr. of Dallas, 101 S.W.3d 185, 189 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2003, no pet.) (exhaustion of administrative remedies required to maintain jurisdiction in trial court); Marin, 19 S.W.3d at 442 (same). Cf. Univ. of Tex. Med. Branch at Galveston v. Barrett, 112 S.W.3d 815 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2003, no pet. h.) (exhaustion of remedies not required; noncompliance with Act’s 60-day waiting period requires abatement instead of dismissal).

. See Gregg County v. Farrar, 933 S.W.2d 769, 775 (Tex.App.-Austin 1996, writ denied).

. See City of Austin v. Ender, 30 S.W.3d 590, 594 (Tex.App.-Austin 2000, no pet.) (exhaustion of administrative remedies "as provided in the whistle-blower statute encourages compliance through voluntary resolution, conference, conciliation and informal processes other than litigation”).

. See e.g., Univ. of Tex. Med. Branch v. Savoy, 86 S.W.3d 782, 787 (Tex.App.-Beaumont 2002, pet. denied); Marin, 19 S.W.3d at 442; Univ. of Tex. Med. Branch v. Hohman, 6 S.W.3d 767, 774 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1999, pet. dism'd w.o.j.); Farrar, 933 S.W.2d at 777. Only the Fourteenth Court of Appeals has held differently, and even that court would abate prematurely filed judicial proceedings pending the outcome of administrative proceedings. Barrett, 112 S.W.3d at 818.