Former aides file whistleblower lawsuit alleging retaliation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

[TexasTowelie]

by Emma Platoff, Texas Tribune


At 9 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 2, David Maxwell and Mark Penley, then two top aides to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, reported separately to the agency’s offices, where, they claim, they were subjected to hours of “irregularities, harassment and retaliation.” Then, they say, when pressured to resign, they refused.

Eight hours later, they were fired.

Penley, the agency’s former deputy attorney general for criminal justice, and Maxwell, its former director of law enforcement, claim in a new whistleblower lawsuit that this treatment came after they, along with six of their senior colleagues at the agency, reported Paxton to authorities. They alleged their boss had broken the law by using the agency to serve the interests of a political donor and friend, Nate Paul, an Austin real estate investor.

Maxwell and Penley — who had been on leave for a month before their termination — are two of the four senior aides who sued the Texas attorney general’s office Thursday, claiming they suffered unlawful retaliation. Blake Brickman, who was fired in October, and Ryan Vassar, who has been on paid leave for weeks, also signed on to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed in Travis County District Court under the Texas Whistleblower Act, paints the clearest picture yet about what motivated the whistleblowers to come forward against Paxton, the state’s top legal authority, and the retribution they say they experienced after they made that report.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/11/13/whistleblower-lawsuit-texas-ken-paxton/