AUSTIN — A former Denton employee who was fired after reporting a city council member for leaking documents to a reporter told Texas lawmakers Monday that the state’s Whistleblower Act failed him.
“I am exactly the type of person the Whistleblower Act and this legislation should protect,” testified Mike Grim, former executive manager of Denton Municipal Electric.
Grim spoke at a House State Affairs Committee on a bill that would expand whistleblower protections to prevent retaliation against public employees who report a good-faith violation of law against an elected officer of an employing governmental entity.
Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, said House Bill 1232 is needed as Texas has strong protections for public employees who report violations by a government entity or another employee but not for those involving elected officials.
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“This means, for example, that if a city employee reports a city council member or a county staffer flags misconduct by an elected supervisor, they may not receive the same legal protections,” Turner said.
Grim and Jim Maynard, who also worked at Denton Municipal Electric, reported a then-city council member to the city attorney in 2016 for allegedly unlawfully leaking private vendor information on a controversial new power plant to a reporter. Grim and Maynard were fired...
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