AUSTIN — Senior officials who were fired after reporting Attorney General Ken Paxton to law enforcement for alleged criminal conduct in 2020 asked a Travis County judge Thursday to award them $6.7 million in damages.
Paxton’s office has until 5 p.m. Friday to submit concerns about the plaintiff’s proposed judgment.
District Court Judge Catherine Mauzy said she will enter her judgment early next week.
Four fired officials from the attorney general’s office — policy director James “Blake” Brickman, head of law enforcement David Maxwell, head of criminal justice Mark Penley and deputy attorney general for legal counsel Ryan Vassar — sued the agency in November 2020.
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They alleged their terminations violated the Texas Whistleblower Act, which prohibits retaliation against public employees who report a violation of law in good faith. The employees were among eight top aides at the agency who reported Paxton’s conduct to the FBI and other law enforcement.
They accused Paxton of using his powerful office to benefit Nate Paul, an Austin real estate investor and campaign contributor who pleaded guilty last month to a federal charge of making false statements to a financial institution. In return, they alleged, Paul renovated Paxton’s Austin home and employed a woman Paxton was seeing.
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