Texas AG Paxton's office owes $6.6 million for firing whistleblowers who went to the FBI

Four former top deputies (Blake Brickman, Mark Penley, David Maxwell and Ryan Vassar) sued in November 2020 after being fired in the days and weeks after reporting allegations about Paxton to the FBI in September 2020. On April 4, 2025 Travis County District Judge Catherine Mauzy entered a final judgment of about $6.6 million for lost wages, emotional distress and attorney's fees, stating that the plaintiffs had proven by a preponderance of the evidence that the attorney general's office violated the Texas Whistleblower Act; the judgment recorded that Paxton's office did not dispute any issue of fact, having stopped contesting the case after the 2023 impeachment trial. Paxton's office called the ruling "a ridiculous judgment that is not based on the facts or the law" and Paxton said, "We will appeal this bogus ruling as we continue to clean up Dade Phelan's mess." The Texas Tribune reported on July 3, 2025 that Paxton had dropped the appeal the day before (Wednesday); a spokesperson for his office said Paxton "closed the case" and repeated that it was a "bogus judgement in support of baseless claims by rogue employees." The judgment is payable from state funds that the Legislature must appropriate.

No outcome recorded yet.