Employment discrimination and retaliation in Texas — the 180-day charge that ends most claims

Texas is an at-will state. An employer can fire you for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all. This page covers the three main exceptions: discrimination under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act, firing for refusing to commit a crime, and retaliation for a workers' compensation claim.

They have almost nothing in common procedurally. The TCHRA claim requires an administrative charge within 180 days and dies without it. The other two go straight to court on a two-year clock.

What the claims are

Your employer fired, demoted or punished you because of a protected characteristic, because you refused to break the law, or because you claimed workers' compensation.

Where the rights come from

TCHRA — Labor Code chapter 21, which mirrors Title VII and the ADA and is construed consistently with them.

Sabine Pilot — common law. Sabine Pilot Service, Inc. v. Hauck, 687 S.W.2d 733 (Tex. 1985), the narrow judicial exception to employment at will.

Workers' compensation retaliation — Labor Code § 451.001.

What a plaintiff has to prove

TCHRA discrimination

1. Membership in a protected class — race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin or age (40 and over).
2. An adverse employment action.
3. A causal link between the two, usually shown through the burden-shifting framework: a prima facie case, the employer's legitimate non-discriminatory reason, and the employee's evidence that the reason is pretext.

Employers with fewer than 15 employees are generally outside the Act.

TCHRA retaliation — Labor Code § 21.055

The employee opposed a discriminatory practice, made or filed a charge, filed a complaint, or testified or participated in a proceeding — and suffered an adverse action because of it.

Sabine Pilot wrongful discharge

1. The employee was required to choose between keeping the job and committing an act carrying criminal penalties.
2. The employee refused.
3. The refusal was the sole reason for the discharge.

The plaintiff bears the burden on sole causation, and that is what makes the claim so narrow.

Workers' compensation retaliation — Labor Code § 451.001

The employee filed a claim in good faith, hired a lawyer to represent them in a claim, instituted a proceeding, or testified in one — and was discharged or discriminated against for it. The standard is causation, not sole causation.

How long you have to file

TCHRA: 180 days to file the charge. Labor Code § 21.202 requires an administrative charge with the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division no later than the 180th day after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred. This is jurisdictional in effect, and missing it ends the claim. A charge dual-filed with the EEOC does not extend the state deadline.

Sexual harassment claims under the 2021 amendments carry a longer charge deadline of 300 days.

After the charge: suit within 60 days of receiving a right-to-sue notice (§ 21.254), and in any event within two years of filing the charge (§ 21.256).

Sabine Pilot and § 451.001: two years, under CPRC § 16.003(a), from the discharge.

What has to happen before you file

TCHRA: administrative exhaustion. File the charge, then obtain a right-to-sue notice. Filing suit without exhausting is fatal.

Sabine Pilot and workers' comp retaliation: nothing. They go straight to district court.

What the claims pay

TCHRA

Back pay and front pay or reinstatement.

Compensatory and punitive damages, capped by employer size under Labor Code § 21.2585:

The cap covers compensatory and punitive damages together and does not limit back pay. Punitive damages require malice or reckless indifference, and are unavailable against a governmental entity.

Attorney's fees to the prevailing party under § 21.259, in the court's discretion — a two-way provision, though courts award fees to prevailing defendants only where the claim was frivolous.

Sabine Pilot

Actual damages, including lost wages and mental anguish, and exemplary damages. No fee statute.

Workers' compensation retaliation

Reinstatement, lost wages and benefits, mental anguish, and exemplary damages. No fee statute under chapter 451.

Common defenses

• Failure to exhaust or an untimely charge. The most common TCHRA defense, and usually dispositive.
• A legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for the action, with no evidence of pretext.
• Not the sole reason, for Sabine Pilot — any other contributing reason defeats the claim.
• A uniformly enforced absence-control policy, for workers' compensation retaliation. The Texas Supreme Court has held that consistent application of a neutral leave policy negates retaliatory intent.
• The employer is below the coverage threshold or is not a workers' compensation subscriber.
• At-will employment, where no exception applies.
• Limitations.

What people get wrong

180 days is not a suggestion. Employees frequently wait to see whether things improve, then learn that the charge deadline passed months ago. Federal deadlines are longer in some circumstances; the state deadline is not.

Sabine Pilot is much narrower than "I was fired for doing the right thing." The act refused must carry criminal penalties, and the refusal must be the only reason for the firing.

Damages are capped by headcount. A jury verdict of $2 million against a 60-employee company becomes $50,000 in compensatory and punitive damages plus back pay.

Reporting something internally is not always protected. TCHRA retaliation protects opposition to discriminatory practices, participation in proceedings, and charges — not every internal complaint about a manager.

Where it came from

Texas had no general employment discrimination statute until 1983, when the Legislature enacted what became chapter 21 to obtain deferral status under Title VII — which is why the Act is construed consistently with federal law and why the caps mirror the federal ones.

Sabine Pilot came two years later, in 1985, and remains one of the narrowest wrongful discharge exceptions in the country. The Texas Supreme Court declined to create a general public policy exception and confined the claim to the single situation before it: an employee fired for refusing to pump bilges into the water in violation of federal law.

Chapter 451 predates both, growing out of the 1971 anti-retaliation provision protecting workers who claim compensation.

The CROWN Act, effective September 1, 2023, added protective hairstyles associated with race to chapter 21's protected characteristics.

Common questions

How long do I have to file a discrimination claim in Texas?

180 days to file the administrative charge — 300 days for sexual harassment claims under the 2021 amendments. Then 60 days from the right-to-sue notice, and no later than two years after filing the charge.

Do I have to file with an agency first?

For a TCHRA claim, yes. For Sabine Pilot and workers' compensation retaliation, no.

Can I recover attorney's fees?

Under the TCHRA, the court may award fees to the prevailing party. The other two claims carry no fee statute.

How much can I recover?

Back pay, plus compensatory and punitive damages capped between $50,000 and $300,000 depending on how many people your employer has.

Can I sue for being fired after refusing to do something illegal?

Only if the act carried criminal penalties and the refusal was the sole reason for your discharge.

What if I was fired after a workplace injury claim?

Section 451.001 protects a good-faith workers' compensation claim, and the causation standard is more forgiving than Sabine Pilot's.

Where these rules live

• CPRC § 16.003 — Two-year limitations period
• CPRC § 41.003 — Standards for recovery of exemplary damages
• CPRC § 41.008 — Limitation on amount of recovery
• CPRC § 37.004 — Declaratory relief
• TRCP 166a — Summary judgment