Former staff attorney for Texas appeals court sues chief justice over firing
A former staff attorney for a Texas appellate court alleges in a federal lawsuit that he was fired for reporting the chief justice to state disciplinary authorities.
Bruce M. Anderson, a former staff attorney with Corpus Christi’s Thirteenth Court of Appeals, also alleges in his suit that Chief Justice Rogelio “Roy” Valdez later prevented him from getting another position with the court, Texas Lawyer reports.
The suit, filed Oct. 21 in a Texas federal court, alleges that Anderson’s First Amendment free speech rights have been violated.
According to the suit, Anderson was working as a briefing attorney for another appellate court judge in 2012 when the judge expressed concerns about whether Valdez was obtaining “double reimbursements” from the court’s filing fee fund and from his campaign finance budget.
Anderson, disturbed by the possibility that the chief justice might be violating Texas law, sent a letter to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, the suit alleges. The commission responded by indicating it would open an investigation into the matter, according to the lawsuit.
Earlier this year, the complaint alleges, Anderson was offered a senior staff attorney position with another appeals court judge. But six days later, an agent of the court told Anderson he no longer had a job with the court. The judge who had offered Anderson the job told him that because he had testified against Valdez, the chief told the other judges not to allow Anderson to take the new job, the suit alleges.
San Antonio lawyer Lawrence Morales II, who represents Anderson, said Anderson was denied a job as the direct result of his decision to report Valdez to the commission.
“As we researched the issue, we realized that Chief Justice Valdez was aware that Mr. Anderson was the complainant and retaliated against him in rescinding the offer that the court had made to him,” he said.
Valdez, who has not been disciplined, did not immediately return a call for comment, Texas Lawyer says. Sean Willing, executive director of the commission, would neither confirm nor deny that a complaint had been filed against Valdez.
