Texas At-Will Employment & Right-to-Work

Absent a contract, Texas employment is at-will — either party may end it at any time, for any reason that is not unlawful. Texas does not recognize a broad public-policy tort for wrongful discharge — its only judicially created exception is the Sabine Pilot claim, which the Texas Supreme Court called “a very narrow exception” covering “only the discharge of an employee for the sole reason that the employee refused to perform an illegal act.” Sabine Pilot Serv., Inc. v. Hauck, 687 S.W.2d 733, 735 (Tex. 1985); reaffirmed in Safeshred, Inc. v. Martinez, 365 S.W.3d 655, 659 (Tex. 2012). Statutory exceptions are separate and remain available.

The one judicial exception, Sabine Pilot Service v. Hauck, 687 S.W.2d 733 (Tex. 1985), bars firing an employee solely because the employee refused to perform an illegal act that carries criminal penalties. It is narrow — the illegal-act refusal must be the sole reason.

At-will does not override the TCHRA and federal anti-discrimination law, the broad SB 45 sexual-harassment rule, the FMLA, USERRA, jury-service protection (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 122.001), or retaliation for filing a workers'-comp claim (Tex. Labor Code § 451.001).

Texas is a right-to-work state — union membership or the payment of dues/fees cannot be a condition of employment (Tex. Labor Code § 101.001 et seq.). Employees still have the federal right to engage in protected concerted activity under the NLRA, union or not.