City of Dallas v. Moreau

• Decision Date: 10 September 1985
• Docket Number: No. 05-84-01314-CV,05-84-01314-CV
• Citation: 697 S.W.2d 472
• Parties: CITY OF DALLAS, Appellant, v. Stephen MOREAU, Appellee.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 472

697 S.W.2d 472

CITY OF DALLAS, Appellant, v. Stephen MOREAU, Appellee.

No. 05-84-01314-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas,

Dallas.

Sept. 10, 1985.

Analeslie Muncy, City Atty., Carroll R. Graham, Donna M. Atwood, Asst. City Attys., Dallas, for appellant.

Bruce A. Pauley, Lyon & Lyon, Dallas, for appellee.

Before AKIN, GUILLOT and HOWELL, JJ.

HOWELL, Justice.

The City of Dallas appeals from a temporary injunction directing the City to permit Stephen Moreau to resume working as a bailiff for the Municipal Courts of the City of Dallas pending trial of claims by Moreau that the City discharged him from his position as a bailiff in violation of the Whistle Blower Act, TEX.REV.CIV.STAT.ANN. art. 6252-16a (Vernon Supp.1985). The City complains that the trial court abused its discretion in granting the injunction because there is no evidence that (1) Moreau will suffer irreparable injury; (2) Moreau has no adequate remedy at law; (3) the City has violated or threatens to continue to violate Article 6252-16a; or (4) Moreau has a probable right to recover on the merits. Finding no evidence that the statute has been violated and no showing of a probable right of recovery, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and dissolve the temporary injunction.

Moreau was serving as a bailiff with the Municipal Courts of Dallas when the Honorable Joan Winn began her appointment as Administrative Judge of those courts on January 1, 1984. Moreau came into controversy with Judge Winn on the procedure for stamping the Judge's signature on post appearance day arrest warrants. At that time, the procedure was for the bailiffs to review the warrants for "clerical errors or omissions" and then to affix a facsimile stamp of the Administrative Judge's signature to them. Moreau refused to stamp the warrants, claiming the procedure was illegal inasmuch as the warrants were stamped without judicial review for probable cause. The chief bailiff on at least two occasions, and Judge Winn on one occasion, had conversations with Moreau regarding his refusal to stamp warrants. On June 1, 1984, the chief bailiff again approached Moreau for the stated purpose of discussing the stamping of warrants. Moreau responded that there was no need to discuss the warrant stamping, that the process was illegal, and that he was not going to stamp warrants. Thereafter, on that same day Moreau received a termination notice signed by Judge Winn, stating that he was discharged for insubordination in refusing to follow orders to stamp warrants.

In reviewing the ruling of a trial court on a temporary injunction, the test is whether the trial court abused its discretion. Texas Foundries v. International Moulders & Foundry Workers' Union, 151 Tex. 239, 248 S.W.2d 460 (1952). In Texas Foundries the supreme court there announced the following test for abuse of discretion: "If the petition does allege a cause of action and evidence tending to sustain such cause of action is introduced, then there is no abuse of discretion by the trial court in issuing the temporary injunction." 248 S.W.2d at 462.

The pertinent parts of article 6252-16a read:

Section 1. In this Act:

(1) "Law" means a state or federal statute, an ordinance passed by a local governmental body, or a rule adopted under a statute or an ordinance.

....

Sec. 2 A state or local governmental body may not suspend or terminate the employment of, or otherwise discriminate against, a public employee who reports a violation of law to an appropriate law enforcement authority if the employee report is made in good faith.

....

Sec. 3(b) A public employee who sues under this section has the burden of proof, but it is a rebuttable presumption that the employee was suspended or terminated for reporting a violation of law if the employee is suspended or terminated not later than the 90th day after making a report in good faith.

While the statute is inspecific and we have no prior decisions to guide us, we think that it is the burden of a plaintiff under this statute to identify the particular act of discrimination and the persons, either individually or as a group, who engaged in or procured the same. Moreau's only significant claim of discrimination is that he was terminated from his employment. The termination notice was in writing and signed by Judge Winn. While Moreau had discussions with the chief bailiff immediately prior to his discharge, we find no contention that the chief bailiff procured his discharge. It follows that, in order to prevail at a temporary injunction hearing, Moreau, had the burden to produce some evidence that Judge Winn terminated his employment because he reported "a violation of law to an appropriate law enforcement authority."

The term "law enforcement authority" is most commonly applied to those who have the power and the duty to arrest for violations of the criminal law--peace officers. If the term "an appropriate law enforcement authority" means only peace officers, it would necessarily follow that the preceding term, "a violation of law," refers only to violations of the criminal law. However, the definition contained in the statute is much broader than the criminal law. Plainly, it refers to all types of unlawful conduct. Conversely, we must conclude that the term "an appropriate law enforcement authority" is not limited to peace officers.

However, it is to be emphasized that the word appropriate is a part of the statutory term. We conclude that, in the order to prevail at the temporary injunction hearing, Moreau was required to produce evidence that the law enforcement authority to whom he reported the alleged violation of law was an appropriate authority. We hold that, in order to be "appropriate," the...