Texas Supreme Court tosses whistleblower claim

Texas law protects public employees who “blow the whistle” on their government employer. But over the last several years, the Texas Supreme Court has interpreted the statute to limit its reach, remove its remedies, and dilute its intent. A May 5, 2023, decision joins the long list.

Lots of reports, no bullseye

Dimitria Pope and Shannon Pickett worked for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), and their job was to provide Medicaid beneficiaries with transportation to nonemergency medical appointments. According to the federal Medicaid rules, children using the transportation service must be accompanied by a related adult. The employees’ department used LeFleur Transportation, an independent contractor, for the transport.

Pope and Pickett determined employees in the HHSC call center were allowing unrelated adults to go with children, so they made a report in February 2014 in an e-mail. They also reported their beliefs on many other occasions to other agencies, such as the HHSC’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), HHSC executives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Texas Attorney General’s Office. They submitted plenty of documentation, and their allegations were found to be factual.

However, both Pope and Pickett were fired in late summer 2017. The appeals court in Austin said they had a whistleblowing claim, but in a 9-0 vote, the Texas Supreme Court disagreed. What were the issues with their argument?

It’s the statute!