Disclaimer
breach of contract - see "fraud" below - an employer should never put anything into an agreement that it does not fully intend to carry out; depending upon individual state laws, this goes for both oral and written promises; basics of this cause of action are found in Greater Fort Worth & Tarrant County Community Action Agency v. Mims, 627 S.W.2d 149, 151 (Tex. 1982).
defamation - verbal or written publication of false information about a person with intent to harm the person's reputation or with reckless disregard for the consequences of the falsehood.
this includes the so-called "doctrine of compelled self-publication", when an ex-employee who is given what amounts to a defamatory reason for discharge is forced by virtue of needing to tell the truth to repeat the defamation to prospective new employers (see, for example, Chasewood Construction Co. v. Rico Construction Co., 696 S.W.2d 439 (Tex. App.-San Antonio 1985, writ ref'd n.r.e.); for an alternative view, see Doe v. Smith Kline Beecham Corp., 855 S.W.2d 248 (Tex. App.-Austin 1993), modified, 903 S.W.2d 347 (Tex. 1995).). For this reason, the employer must be very sure of its facts before telling an employee that he or she is being discharged for a particular reason, and even if the employee is given a frank explanation of the reason, the explanation should be as matter-of-fact and non-inflammatory as possible
interference with an employment relationship - this commonly occurs when an outside party puts pressure on an employer to take some kind of adverse job action against an employee. An employer in such a situation should never act without the counsel of an attorney; such an action can be brought against both third parties and individual employees of an employer, depending upon the individual state's laws. A good discussion of this cause of action is found in Marathon Oil Co. v. Sterner, 745 S.W.2d 420 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1988), aff'd in part, rev'd in part, 767 S.W.2d 686 (Tex. 1989).
intentional infliction of emotional distress - some states (not Texas) even recognize the tort of "negligent infliction of emotional distress" - Texas law recognizes only the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress - this usually requires proof of some kind of "outrageous" conduct on the employer's part. Illustrative case: Dean v. Ford Motor Credit Co., 885 F.2d 300 (5th Cir. 1989).
invasion of privacy - this is a real risk for companies that try to implement monitoring and surveillance procedures without first seeking the advice of an employment law attorney; see K-Mart v. Trotti, 677 S.W.2d 632, 636 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1984, writ ref'd n.r.e.).
fraud - commonly tied together with a breach of contract claim; see The American Tobacco Co., Inc. v. Grinnell, 951 S.W. 2d 420 (Tex. 1997).
malicious prosecution - employees and ex-employees whose employers improperly cause criminal charges to be filed against them may have a cause of action for "malicious prosecution"; see Browning-Ferris Indus. v. Lieck, 881 S.W.2d 288 (Tex.1994). The key to avoiding liability under this cause of action is to simply make a good-faith, factual report of alleged wrongdoing to law enforcement, furnish relevant information, and let the chips fall where they may.
See also: Other Legal Issues Associated with Investigations