Pauline Higgins, who was fired on Feb. 23 as general counsel of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (Metro), has filed a defamation and whistleblower suit that names Metro and Frank J. Wilson, its president and chief executive officer, as defendants. In Pauline Higgins v. Frank J. Wilson, et al., filed in the 127th District Court on April 19, Higgins alleges Metro fired her because she had complained to Houston Mayor Annise Parker that the transit agency wasn’t complying with state laws governing document retention. She also alleges in the petition that Wilson defamed her with statements he made at press conferences and by providing a newspaper editorial board with “questionable documents from an alleged ‘investigation’ into Higgins' management practices.” She brings the defamation cause of action against Wilson under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code §101.057, and the Texas Whistleblower Act cause of action against Metro under Texas Government Code §554.003. She seeks unspecified actual damages, reinstatement under the Texas Whistleblower Act and punitive damages from Wilson alleging he “acted with malice against Higgins.” In a written statement, Metro writes that “its decision to terminate Ms. Higgins’ employment was completely appropriate and entirely justified. She has now filed a lawsuit. It is METRO’s practice not to comment on pending litigation.” Metro did not respond to a request for further comment from Wilson. Higgins alleges in her petition that “this case involves cut-throat politics and cronyism” at Metro. She alleges Metro hired her in August 2008 to “clean up the METRO legal department and help it function more like a business,” but Wilson “along with various cohorts and cronies . . . resisted many of Higgins’ efforts.” She alleges that Wilson rejected a document retention policy that Higgins developed to “bring Metro into compliance with state law.” Despite Wilson’s opposition, Higgins alleges she attempted to bring the proposed policy before the Metro board in 2010. She also alleges that Wilson did not assign her to handle open-records requests under the Texas Public Information Act -- specifically a Jan. 27 request filed by Houston lawyer Lloyd Kelley. In February, Kelley filed Lloyd Kelley v. Frank J. Wilson, et al. in the 61st District Court in Harris County, in which he seeks court orders to prevent Metro from destroying documents he requested. In a motion to void a temporary restraining order in Kelley v. Wilson, Metro alleges its decision to terminate Higgins was made on Feb. 19 and it “had nothing to do with any allegations pertaining to document destruction or retention.” Metro alleges Higgins’ work performance was the subject of an independent personnel investigation by Metro’s employee advocacy officer who recommended in December 2009 that Higgins be terminated. In that report, Metro notes in the motion, the officer “noted policy violations, described unacceptable turnover in Ms. Higgins’ department, and states that ‘[i]it was troubling to hear how Pauline had manipulated and caused so much fear into some of her past and present employees.’ " Higgins alleges in her petition in Higgins v. Wilson, et al.that the factual claims in the investigative report are “untrue” including claims that “ ‘[e]ach one’ of Higgins’ ‘past and present employees' 'had a story of how [Higgins] demoralized, degraded, threatened and intimidated them' ”; they provided examples of e-mails and telephone and text messages that showed “her cruelty”; they cried as “they spoke of the horror they claimed to have endured” while working for her; and she is untruthful. Higgins alleges in her petition that Wilson “made and published oral, untrue statements of fact about Higgins” and “made or published the statements with the intent to harm Higgins and with knowledge that Higgins’ reputation would be harmed.” An attorney for Higgins, Rusty Hardin, of Rusty Hardin & Associates in Houston, was not immediately available for comment. Higgins is a periodic contributor to Texas Lawyer.
-- Brenda Sapino Jeffreys
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