Employment-Related Business Disputes, on the Employer's Side

Calendar the response deadline on the notice, preserve every record about the employee and the decision at issue, and keep the people involved from discussing it outside counsel. The company's position statement is its first formal account of what happened and is hard to walk back later, so it is written from the documents, not from memory. Charges are usually filed with both the EEOC and the Texas Workforce Commission at once, and one response serves both.

For any lawful reason or no reason, unless a contract says otherwise. Texas is an at-will state. The limits are the anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation statutes (Texas Labor Code chapter 21 and the federal counterparts), other statutes protecting specific conduct, and a narrow common-law rule against firing someone solely for refusing to commit a crime. A clear, documented, consistently applied reason remains the heart of the defense, because it answers the claim that the stated reason was a pretext.

It depends on the commission plan. Under the Texas Payday Law, commissions are wages and are due according to the terms of the agreement between the employer and the employee (Texas Labor Code sections 61.001 and 61.015). A plan that clearly states when a commission is earned and what happens on termination is enforced as written; a plan that is silent leaves the question to the course of dealing and the courts. Final pay for a discharged employee is due by the sixth day after discharge.

Almost always, and in writing. Silence is read as either indifference or weakness and often leads straight to an agency charge or a lawsuit. A good response states the company's position on the facts, corrects the record where the letter is wrong, preserves defenses and, where some exposure exists, opens a channel to resolve it on reasonable terms. It is drafted on the assumption that a judge or investigator will read it later.

Yes, where the facts support them. Common counterclaims include breach of the employment agreement, breach of the duty of loyalty for competing or diverting business while still employed, misappropriation of trade secrets, conversion of company property and recovery of unearned advances or signing bonuses. A counterclaim must not be retaliation for the protected complaint, so it is filed on its own merits and documented accordingly.

Generally yes. Texas and federal courts enforce written arbitration agreements between employers and employees as written, provided the agreement was actually accepted and is not unconscionable. Arbitration keeps the dispute private and usually faster, though it limits discovery and appeal. An agency charge with the EEOC or TWC can still be filed, since the agreement binds the employee's lawsuit, not the agency's process.

It depends on the claim. A discrimination or retaliation complaint must be filed with the Texas Workforce Commission within 180 days of the act (300 days for sexual harassment) under Texas Labor Code section 21.202, and with the EEOC within 300 days under federal law; suit follows within 60 days of the state right-to-sue notice or 90 days of the federal one. A Payday Law wage claim must be filed within 180 days after the wages became due. Breach of contract claims carry a four-year limitations period under Texas law.