The United States House of Representatives oversight and government reform committee and the Senate judiciary committee issued a committee report on Wednesday, February 26 regarding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) utilizing a stringent monitoring program on its employees who had talked to Congress and the media, calling the process “highly invasive.”

House committee chairman Darrell Issa (Republican of California) and Senate judiciary committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (Republican of Iowa) said they found evidence that this surveillance was not sanctioned and that whistle blowers were not given proper protections.

Grassley said legally protected communications channels are safe from snooping and that “three whistle blowers thought the FDA was caving to pressure from the companies that were applying for FDA approval of whom two were fired, two more were forced to leave the FDA, and five were subjected to an intense spying campaign.”

Employees and workers have legally protected rights under state and federal law. As such, employers who violate these rights can and should be legally held liable. Seek the legal help our attorneys at The Melton Law Firm if you live in Austin and have been unfairly treated at work. You can reach us at 512-330-0017.

The Texas Faculty Association, on behalf of three former faculty members who said they were unlawfully let go because of their age, is suing the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College. The wrongful termination lawsuit was filed on Thursday, February 20 in a federal district court in Brownsville.

The staff counsel for the Texas State Teachers Association filed the lawsuit for Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Karen Fuss-Somer, and Dorothy Boven, who were all laid off despite their claims that there was nothing wrong with their job performance.

The three had been granted tenure at TSC and also became tenured faculty members at UTB when the two educational institutions merged in 1992.

According to the lawsuit, the policy to preserve non-tenured faculty members over tenured ones is “an artificial, arbitrary, and unnecessary barrier to employment” that has negative effects on faculty members 40 years old and above.

Our attorneys at The Melton Law Firm, work to ensure that Austin employees’ rights and interests are protected. If your employee rights have been violated by your employer or a co-worker, seek the legal assistance of our lawyers by calling us at 512-330-0017.