Monday, Aug. 1, 2005 | 9:39 a.m.
DALLAS -- Administrative assistant Cindi Suarez had just returned from a Disney World vacation when her bosses at the Texas Lottery Commission called her to a meeting.
She knew it was trouble when the caller ID flashed "HR Conference Room." That was where managers took employees to tell them that they would no longer work for the commission -- where firings occur at a higher rate than most other state agencies.
Sure enough, Suarez was handed a two-sentence dismissal letter -- even though two weeks earlier she'd gotten a nearly perfect employee evaluation. She was not given a reason for the firing, and even though it came without warning, her dismissal didn't surprise her.
"There were always a lot of terminations," Suarez said. "I kept asking (co-workers) 'Is it true they can fire you for no reason?' They said, 'Yeah, that's what they do here all the time.' "
Current and former employees believe the agency uses the threat of at-will terminations to scare and intimidate anyone who raises questions about lottery operations.
In every state but Montana, employees work at the will of employers, meaning employers have the right to fire workers at any time for any lawful reason. Exceptions vary from state to state and employers can waive that right in a negotiated contract, such as one with a union.
Lee Deviney, the lottery's chief financial officer, was fired after he questioned the agency's practice of advertising inflated Lotto Texas jackpots, but his managers say his termination was unrelated to that.
Deviney was among five lottery employees fired in June under the at-will provision, bringing the total to eight so far for 2005. That's more at-will terminations in six months than most state agencies have seen in five years, according to state employment documents obtained by the Associated Press.
For example, no one has been fired under the at-will provision since 2000 at either the 440-employee Teacher Retirement System of Texas or the roughly 38,500-employee Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The Department of Public Safety has roughly 7,625 employees but has reported just two at-will terminations in five years. The 575-employee General Land Office only reported one.
Over the past five years, 23 people were fired under the provision from the lottery commission, which employs about 310 people.
Lottery spokesman Bobby Heith declined to discuss specific terminations, saying they were confidential personnel matters. Kim Kiplin, the lottery's general counsel, defended the agency's practices at a recent legislative committee hearing, saying such firings are protected by Texas employment law.
Suarez and other former employees complained about the firings to State Rep. Ismael "Kino" Flores, who chairs a House committee that oversees the lottery. He has filed a bill that would bar the lottery from firing any employee without good cause if he or she had worked there for at least one year.
"If I were a lottery employee I would be scared to death ... that tomorrow morning, my supervisor was going to be in a bad mood and was going to separate me from the agency," he said during a June legislative hearing to review the lottery's jackpot problems.
Flores admitted his bill probably won't be considered because lawmakers are focused on school finance and other issues during the summer's special legislative sessions. But he said he wanted lottery officials to know he was closely watching them.
"Their legal counsel is interpreting that at will means I can get rid of you at any time that I want to and you don't have a due process, and that's not the case," said Flores, a South Texas Democrat.
At the legislative hearing, Flores questioned Administration Director Mike Fernandez, Acting Executive Director Gary Grief and other top lottery officials about the firing of Deviney, one of two employees in charge of proposing jackpots.
Deviney wrote an e-mail to top lottery officials pointing out that ticket sales for the June 8 Lotto Texas drawing were not expected to cover the advertised $8 million jackpot.
No one won that drawing, and after a lottery watchdog filed a complaint with the state attorney general's office, the agency decided to take the unprecedented step of holding the jackpot at $8 million for the June 11 drawing.
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