The city of Denton did not violate the Texas Whistleblower Act when it fired two municipal power company employees who blew the whistle on a former Denton City Council member who leaked documents to the Denton Record-Chronicle, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday.
In its 15-page opinion, the court ruled former council member Keely Briggs wasn’t acting on behalf of the city when she shared documents concerning the proposed construction of the Denton Energy Center, a natural gas power plant, with the Record-Chronicle reporter.
Texas whistleblower protections only apply if employees report a violation of law by an “employing governmental entity” or another public employee.
“Unlike employees or other agents whom the law or the city council has given legal authority to act for the city, the actions of a lone council member are generally not the actions of the city itself,” the opinion reads. “Nor are violations of law by a lone council member violations of law by the city.”
This was the city of Denton’s second appeal of Michael Grim and Jim Maynard’s lawsuit filed in 2017. The two former Denton Municipal Electric employees said they were fired because, 10 months earlier, they told then-city attorney about Briggs sharing allegedly confidential documents related to the DEC with a reporter in violation of the Texas Public Information Act.
A Dallas County jury awarded the men more than $2.7 million in 2020. Friday’s ruling reverses a lower appeals court’s affirmation of that verdict. The Texas Supreme Court didn’t rule on whether Briggs violated the TPIA or whether Grim and Maynard were fired because they reported her alleged violation of the law.
The men's attorney Eric Roberson said the ruling is a blow to other municipal employees across the state who want to report the wrongdoings of unpaid volunteers like city council members.
"(Denton Energy Center) is serving the citizens of Denton well," he said. "It is providing clean, cost effective energy, and this should have been the ultimate prize of (Grim and Maynard's) careers. Instead, because they reported the criminal conduct of a city council member, it ended up being the nightmare of their careers."
But attorney Christopher Kratovil, who represents the city, said the whistleblower statute speaks for itself.
"If the other side is unhappy with that result, their remedy is with the Texas legislature," he said. "That's not the job of the courts."
Briggs voted against the construction of the DEC, which began operating in 2018. Some residents criticized the proposed plant because of its price and potential environmental impact.
Roberson and Kratovil argued the case in front of Texas Supreme Court justices in January. The city said the two men were fired for allegedly lying during an investigation into the fishing and hunting trips they took with DEC vendors. Attorneys said that raised concerns about potential violations of state vendor communications law.
The men's attorneys said that was pretext and they were singled out because after the May 2017 election, most of the newly elected city council members opposed the construction of the DEC.
Editor's Note: KERA acquired the Denton Record-Chronicle in August.
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