AUSTIN – A man who claims the University of Texas at Austin blacklisted him recently had the dismissal of his lawsuit affirmed by the First Court of Appeals.
Suran Wije sued his former employer, UT, and supervisor, David Burns, alleging that after he resigned the university falsified his personnel file for being an “internal-only whistleblower” and thereby “de facto blacklisted” him from future employment.
Court records show that after a trial court granted UT’s plea to the jurisdiction, Wije appealed. On Sept. 3, the First Court affirmed the lower court’s ruling.
Case background
Wije was employed by UT in the IT Department for the McCombs School of Business from 2000 until 2005. Burns was Wije’s supervisor.
Wije alleges he experienced discrimination during his employment with UT and further claims that he acted as an “internal-only whistleblower” by raising concerns to the IT Department regarding software quality and the adequacy of security systems.
Several years after Wije resigned, he began applying for new jobs with UT. Despite applying for numerous positions, Wije never received any requests for interviews and was ultimately unable to obtain new employment with UT.
Wije believed that UT had intentionally included a “lie” in his personnel file by stating that he had resigned without notice, and this representation served to place Wije on a “de facto blacklist” that prevented him from obtaining employment.
The First Court determined the trial court lacked jurisdiction over all Wije’s claims, determining that the lower court properly dismissed the suit.
Appeals case No. 1:19-00024-CV