Does My Employer Need To Have 15 Or More Employees In Order To File Federal Charges Against Him

Full question:

The Pastor of our church was very inappropriate in several ways. He has less than 15 employees. I was told that he had to have 15 employees to punish him on a federal level. Is there something I can do on a state level? I was his personal assist for 6 months and was never paid like promised. He has embarrassed me and slandered me. What can I do?

• Category: Civil Actions
• Subcategory: Defamation
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: Texas

Answer:

How many employees the employer is required to have to fall under federal laws depends on the type of employer action and applicable law based on such action. For example, if a claim is made for a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the employer needs to have 15 or more employees. If a claim involves a violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the employer needs to have 20 or more employees.

Slander is an act of communication that causes someone to be shamed, ridiculed, held in contempt, lowered in the estimation of the community, or to lose employment status or earnings or otherwise suffer a damaged reputation. To have a claim for slander, a person must prove there was:

1. a defamatory statement;

2. published to third parties; and

3. which the speaker or publisher knew or should have known was false.

With respect to slander in the workplace, courts have recognized valid causes of action by plaintiffs who suffered damage to their reputations from statements in discharge letters, office petitions, warning letters, performance evaluations, statements in management or employee meetings, and internal security meetings. Companies typically defend themselves in such actions by arguing that the statements communicated about the employee were true, or they had a qualified privilege to say such things. For example, this may occur when a supervisor writes a memo with negative statements about an employee's work and charging the worker with unsatisfactory performance and poor attitude. The worker is then fired, and sues the company for libel. The company will win if it can prove that the contents of the memo are the supervisor's honest opinion.

Texas courts ruled that such expressions, even if harsh, are protected and cannot be the basis of a libel suit. An employer has the right, without the court's interference, to assess an employee's performance on the job, since communication by one person to another upon a subject in which both have an interest is protected by a qualified privilege. Even extremely harsh opinions have found protection in the courts. However, the company's qualified privilege may be lost if the words were spoken with malice, designed to destroy the employee's livelihood, and with knowledge that the statements were false.

When an employer fails to pay compensation due to an employee, a breach of contract claim may be filed. Depending on the amount involved, it may be possible to file a claim in small claims court. Jurisdictional amounts (dollar limits) vary by small claims court, so the local clerk of court should be consulted.