Laredo Med. Group Corp. v. Mireles

WHISTLEBLOWER/WRONGFUL TERMINATION

Laredo Med. Group
Corp. v. Mireles, No. 04-03-00729-CV (Tex. Ct. App. Oct. 20, 2004)

The Texas Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a trial court ruling which
found that a certified public accountant was fired by a hospital-affiliated
medical group because she refused to prepare inaccurate financial statements.
The CPA contended that her refusal to perform an illegal act was displayed
by her refusal to engage in double billing. The court found that if the
alleged illegal acts did occur, they would have taken place in the billing
department, not in the accounting department. Thus, she only used information
supplied by the billing department and only used that information to prepare
internal financial statements. The court also ruled that there was no evidence
that the CPA was ordered or refused to perform an illegal act and, as the
medical group is a private corporation and not a public entity, there was
no evidence that she had a duty to report the alleged improprieties.