Legal Question in Employment Law in Texas
Termination without warning or reason
On Sept. 21 2004, I was terminated from my position as assistant manager
for a
retail shoe company in Austin TX.
The reason given to me was that the store had been losing its planned goals
for 5 months and that I was not making my personal goal. The store manager
was given a choice to leave the company completely or to be demoted to an
assistant position, which is what he chose to take the assistant position
offered. I was told I would have to be ''let go''.
My concern as well as my grievance is that I was never given a goal, other
than to make my sales quota to commission, which I did consistently other
than the last few months when business had been extremely soft, through no
fault of my own.
There was no communication what so ever to lead me to believe that there
was a serious problem and that my job was at risk.
I had one performance review with the store manager shortly after I started
my employment in March 04, that stated nothing about goals not being met,
it, for the most part, was a very positive review.
I never received a written or verbal reprimand or warning concerning my
performance, and was told that my termination was effective immediately.
Is this legal in the state of TX?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Termination without warning or reason
Yes. You can be terminated in Texas even if you are doing the best job in the history of the company unless it is the result of age, race or similar discrimination. An employer does not need a good reason, or any reason at all, to let you go. There is also no requirement that you be given performance reviews or any prior notice of your termination.