Legal Question in Employment Law in Texas
OK, here was my question, below is the rediculouos answer i got
i live in texas and was fired from my career as a police dispatcher for telling my former girlfriend her brother was in jail, which is public information under federal law, the chief said i had commited no malicious act, but made a bad decision by telling her. She is still a citizen and it is public info which is available via internet under P2C (police2citizen) or by calling, which is a question i answ a dozen times a day for years, what makes this case different, he said it was because i used my cell phone instead of a landline, but its still public information either way and was not a high profile case, just a disorderly conduct, class C, this has ruined my career and con not get hired anywhere else as a dispatcher due to a termination on my record. Even the deputy chief said i did nothing wrong. Am i just screwed here?
If you pled guilty, then that will remain on your record. If you did nothing wrong, then why were you charged and why did you plead guilty?
Just because something is public information does not mean that you can disseminate the information that you came into knowledge of by way of your employment.
Cynthia Henley
Cynthia Henley, Lawyer
7626 E. Jordan Cove
Houston, TX 77055-5053
Where did i say anything about being charged or pleading guilty, i was not arrested, i was fired, and it was my job to tell citizens that people were in jail when they asked, so i dont understand how you say i cant do dissemenate that info as a result of my employment, as it is public information, regardless of who asks, you have to tell them if someone is in jail, its called tha Federal Public Information Act. my question was what makes it different that it was my girlfriend as opposed to any other citizen. Public info is public info and a citizen is a citizen wether you know them or not.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Sorry you think my answer is "rediculouos" - I assume you mean ridiculous. Your question, with all of your misspellings and lack of proper punctuation was confusing and I apologize that I misunderstood. My guess is that your attitude and your apparent belief that you know everything did not help you.
No, it does not make a difference that it was your girlfriend versus "any other citizen". (Nor does it matter whether the person is a citizen, on a visa, or an illegal alien.) And, it is the Freedom of Information Act to which you refer - there is no "Federal Public Information Act".
The issue is probably answered in your employee handbook, outline, or whatever you were given or told to read when you started your job. It is one thing for you to receive a call and answer a question but it is a completely different thing to find out something as a result of your employment and then disseminate that information on your own because you want to. Just as you said above, "it was my job to tell citizens that people were in jail when they asked" - that's right - when they asked.
If you did nothing wrong, you would not have been fired. But since you were fired, why don't you ask the person who fired you why you were fired?
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