© 2013 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
Staff Writer for The Texas Lawbook
A former petroleum engineer with the Railroad Commission of Texas is suing the state agency for violating the Whistleblower Protection Program after he was fired from his job in June.
Frederick Wright filed a lawsuit in a Harris County district court this week, alleging his former employer retaliated against him after he reported one or more violations of law committed by his supervisor at the Railroad Commission.
“Upon information and belief, defendant was specifically trying to create a record of performance issues that could be used as a pretext to fire plaintiff for doing the job for which he was hired, specifically, ensuring compliance with rules, regulations and laws,” the complaint says.
Houston labor and employment attorney Kristen Capps is representing the plaintiff in the matter. Ms. Capps did not immediately return a voicemail left on Friday.
The lawsuit names General Counsel Lindil C. Fowler, Jr. of the Railroad Commission as the contact for delivery of the lawsuit.
During an interview request with Mr. Fowler, Railroad Commission spokeswoman Ramona Nye said her agency “does not comment on litigation” matters.
Plaintiff Wright formerly was an engineering specialist for the Railroad Commission and worked there from 2007 until this year in June. While working there, his job was to make sure oil and gas operators in the Houston area complied with mandatory regulations such as environmental protection to ensure safe and equitable oil and gas development and production, the lawsuit says.
This year in February, Wright’s supervisor instructed him to approve completion reports on oil and gas wells that were “not in compliance with applicable regulations.”
Wright objected and filed a complaint about his supervisor to the Railroad Commission’s director of the oil and gas division. In May, he received a “written reprimand” in return that said “the agency was receiving ‘unsolicited complaints’ about him, and that he needed to improve his relationships with operators,” according to the lawsuit.
Wright appealed the reprimand and asked for more specific examples of such complaints, and “the agency nonetheless refused to provide examples,” the lawsuit says.
The Railroad Commission fired Wright almost a month after he received and appealed the written reprimand and “was given no reason for his termination,” according to the complaint.
After his termination, Wright filed a request under the Texas Open Records Act to look for more details about the operators’ complaints the Railroad Commission’s written reprimand alluded to.
Though the Railroad Commission stated they were unsolicited complaints, Wright found out they were “specifically solicited by the Railroad Commission after Mr. Wright’s initial complaint in February and after his supplement to that complaint in March,” the lawsuit says.
The plaintiff is requesting actual damages, including but not limited to back pay, front pay and compensation for loss of retirement benefits and loss of fringe benefits.
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