Legal Question in Employment Law in Texas

I am the manager of a storage facility and due to the economy the rentals are down, phone calls are down...I was injured on the property and will go to a dr tomorrow...Can the company fire me if I have been hurt on the job and may have to have knee surgery due to the injury? I am a very good employee and what they do is fire you and make you sign a form stating that you are leaving on your own accord...This way they don't have to pay unemployment...I also opened up my own little gift shop 1 year ago...I go over there on my day off and after I get off work at night..The DM followed me for 3 weeks wanting to know where I was going on my day off...She followed me to my store and she told me to shut my store down that it was a conflict of interest...she called the owner and he flew in to town and told me I had to shut my business down if I wanted to keep my job...I signed nothing stating that I could not own a business or work a part time job and he told me I can not work a part time job...Please let me know if I am doing something wrong..thanks


Asked on 10/26/10, 7:40 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mark Dunn Mark D. Dunn

When the storage facility folks fire you, they will come up with a "good" reason. It is illegal for them to fire you for making a worker's comp claim.

Nobody can "make" you sign anything. Just say no.

Don't shut down your business.

When they fire you, and you make your unemployment claim, they'll contest it. Fight them. The "hearing" is conducted by phone; buy a cheap speakerphone just for the occasion (it's worth it to have both hands free while you're talking, and have to dig through papers).

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Answered on 11/01/10, 10:51 am


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