Recently in Wrongful Termination Category

The Alamo is not a car rental service. It is one of America’s most well-known symbols.

And Tony Caridi, its former marketing director, is crying foul, after he was fired by the Daughters of the Republic of the Texas (DRT) for allegedly misusing computers at work, reports My San Antonio.

Tony Caridi was hired in November 2009 to promote the Alamo. He helped draft the DRT’s $900,000 promotions contract with William Morris agency and also with the application for a federal trademark on the words “The Alamo.” In addition, he worked on promoting Phil Collins and other stars to celebrate The Alamo (TM), 175th anniversary.

A "whistleblower" is an employee who reports a violation of the law by his or her employer. The violation may be against the reporting employee, as with sexual harassment claims, or may be a general violation such as unlawful pollution practices against environmental law.

The federal government and many states have laws protecting whistleblowers from retaliation for filing a claim or reporting a violation. In addition, most states recognize a common-law claim against an employer who takes action against an employee after he or she has reported a violation of law.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rose to the defense of the Whole Foods whistleblower that revealed a failure to address raw sewage spillage in Miami, reports Business Insurance.

The whistleblower, a marketing specialist named Bridget Hobart, sent emails to her supervisor after witnessing Whole Food's sewage back up and spill into the specialty cheese department and the restrooms. She later sent an anonymous tips and more emails to colleagues about the subject. And eventually she was fired for allegedly making false and malicious statements against the store.

A Houston manufacturer by the name of Metallic Products Corp. will be paying $60,000 to settle an age discrimination lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), reports the agency’s website.

The lawsuit stemmed from Metallic Product Corporation’s mandatory retirement policy. It required employees to retire before the age of 70. An employee named Jeronimo Vidal was told that before he turned 70 he had to retire; when he did not retire by his birthday, he was fired.

An X-Ray technician that had to get surgery to have metal plates put in her face is alleging that she was fired from her job when she informed her employer that she needed medical leave, reports Courthouse News Service.

These tragic allegations come from the life of a Texas plaintiff named Paula Shuffield. She is a resident of Tarrant County, who had been working at Community Portable X-Ray Inc., since 2006.

At some point in 2010, Paula Shuffield's complaint alleges, she was severely beaten by her husband, and had to be hospitalized. The beating was so severe that her life was in jeopardy. Not only did she require emergency surgery, but she also had to have metal plates inserted into her face.

Some bosses ask you to stay late for work on Friday evening. Others make-up nicknames you don't like. Then there is Halliburton CEO, Dave Lesar, who demonstrates fracking fluid by having his employee drink it, reports the Houston Chronicle.

Halliburton, the world's second largest oilfield services company, which some people simply call Hal, is headquartered in Houston.

The strange incident happened during a keynote lunch speech in Colorado, where Dave Lesar was addressing the many concerns regarding "hydraulic fracturing" -- which is a way of extracting natural gas by using water and chemicals. The Halliburton CEO then raised a container of Halliburton's new fracking fluid and made another executive drink it.

A Houston-based administrator with the Galveston Housing Authority has alleged she was terminated from her position due to race-based decision-making, reports the Southeast Texas Record.

A lawsuit filed by Christina J. Allen-Crowder, an African-American, alleges that she made an internal complaint about discrimination to the then-directo Harish Krishnarao, only to be fired.

We often hear news about women getting discriminated at work because of their older age -- like this Houston woman allegedly let go for her gray hair.

But men also raise age discrimination claims, such as Tyler resident Kurt Floersheim, reports The Southeast Texas Record.

Mr. Floersheim, an engineer, was apparently let go in a reduction of force at a company called Motiva. Mr. Floersheim doesn't think this was appropriate. He is quick to point out that the reduction resulted in the three oldest engineers being laid off, ranging in age from 50 - 65.

There is a part in the film Godfather II when Hyman Roth says to Michael, "Michael, we're bigger than U.S. Steel."

That's because U.S. Steel, the world's first ever billion dollar corporation, was once the standard of size and excellence in American business. Founded by JP Morgan and Andrew Carnegie, at one point it was known simply as "The Corporation."

Over the years U.S. Steel has faced a government takeover by President Truman during the Korean War, not to mention millions of lawsuits. Now add one more to the list. This case involves a woman named Mabel Olivas, a human resources employee who claims that she was not paid as much as  similarly situated male employees, reports the Southeast Texas Record.

An employee of Nestle Waters in Tyler, Texas claims that he was terminated from his position as a forklift driver in June 2009 after he had too many absences from work. Now through a lawsuit, the ex-employee is claiming that he was denied medical leave and is alleging violations of the Texas Labor Code and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in the complaint.

According to The Southeast Texas Record, the employee Ruben Correa suffered from an on-the-job injury when he stepped off the forklift and twisted his right leg in March, 2008. He underwent surgery after the accident and returned to work two months after the surgery, but said that he was still in pain from the injury. The employee claims that he was denied requests to be placed in another position and was also denied additional requests for medical leave.