Adams v. Oncor Electric
October 31, 2012While Bruce Adams was carrying out his duties as a senior “troubleshooter” for defendant Oncor, he fell 25 feet from a utility pole and broke his back. Adams spent weeks in the hospital and underwent several surgeries. While Adams recovered, he received his full salary under Oncor’s salary continuation policy, but, when it appeared that Adams would no longer be able to return to work as a troubleshooter, Oncor sent him its standard letter informing him, among other things, that if he could not return to perform the “essential job duties of [his] occupation” within several months he would be terminated. Although Oncor worked with Adams to find a position as a dispatcher, this new position did not work out. Adams sued, alleging that Oncor violated section 451.001 of the Texas Labor Code by wrongfully terminating his employment in retaliation for his filing a workers’ compensation claim.
The Court granted Oncor’s motion for summary judgment, finding that Adams had presented no evidence demonstrating that his termination was the result of his filing a workers’ compensation claim. Instead, the Court held that Oncor had terminated Adams “based on the uniform application of a reasonable absence control policy.”
