Most employment statutes contain prohibitions against firing employees based upon the reasons covered in those laws. For example, the employment discrimination statutes make it illegal to fire someone on the basis of that person's race or color, religion, age, national origin, sex (gender), or disability. The Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits an employer from firing an employee just because that person filed a wage and hour complaint or else participated in a wage and hour investigation. The OSHA laws make it illegal to fire someone on the basis of a workplace safety complaint they may have filed. The Texas Workers' Compensation Act makes it illegal to fire an employee in retaliation for them filing a workers' compensation claim. These are just a few examples.

There is a cause of action, albeit rare in Texas, called "wrongful discharge". Different people think of different things when they hear that term. Some think it means any discharge that somehow violates some law or that is recognized as wrongful in important court decisions. Others restrict it to the latter category, i.e., any discharge that is considered by past court decisions to be "wrongful". Probably the best way to understand it is to realize that it means any discharge that is not allowed under the "employment at will" doctrine, the basic rule of employment law in Texas.

"Employment at will" actually applies to much more than just termination of an employee. In its broadest sense, it stands for the proposition that absent an express statute or a contract to the contrary, either party in an employment relationship can change or end the terms and conditions of employment at any time, with or without notice, and for a good reason, a bad reason, or for no particular reason at all. An employer can fire an at-will employee at any point without having to worry about further liability. An at-will employee can quit at any time without having to worry about liability to the employer for leaving suddenly.

There are some notable exceptions to the employment at will rule. In addition to the statutory prohibitions noted above, there are contractual and case law exceptions. If a contract provides a certain way to end an employment relationship, then the contract must be honored, or else contractual liability will result. The following exceptions to the employment at will doctrine have been created by Texas courts at one time or another:

1. an employer may not fire an employee for refusing to follow an order, if carrying out the order would violate a law for which there are criminal penalties; and
2. an employer may not fire an employee under a policy that the employer itself has ignored for a period of years, if the employer was aware during that time that the policy called for discharge of the employee, but the employer simply failed to act.

There is no government agency that rules on those kinds of wrongful discharges. Such claims are brought by filing a civil lawsuit in a court. The trial is generally before a jury. An employer found guilty of having wrongfully terminated an employee can be required to pay monetary damages to the ex-employee, including compensatory damages (back pay, future pay), punitive damages, and attorney's fees.

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