Legal Question in Employment Law in Texas
After work, several people went to a happy hour. Two of the guys decided they would go to a strip club. Some of the others at the happy hour heard and invited themselves along. One was a junior female employee and her male date. No one was coerced and no one that went were upset. It got out in the office the next morning that this happened and human resources and senior management decided to investigate and take action against the three men that were present because of their moral view of the situation. No one that attended has any complaint from the situation, but everyone is totally embarrassed by the investigation and are mentally distraught over it. The company has taken some disciplinary action against at least one of the men and it is possible that they may try to do more. Is this legal and do they individuals involved have any rights here?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Texas has a rule called "employment at will." This means that your employer can fire you (or discipline you) for almost any reason - as long as it doesn't involve race, religion, sexual orientation, etc.
In other words, they can "discipline" you for stupid reasons. Which is what they're doing.
Your remedy is to tell them to go to hell, and walk off the job.
You are a victim of what I call the "1951 mentality" that says that the only "correct" way to behave is like Dad on "Father Knows Best." The standard of morality is Ward Cleaver on "Leave it to Beaver." You and I know that it's nobody's business what you do when you're off work (I assume that you don't work for the First Methodist Church), but your employer is being a "nanny."
Your real decision is: Do I want to continue to work for these jerks?
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