Courts side with man fired by the City of Laredo

But city officials have said they have no intention on reinstating Water Treatment Plant Superintendent, Tony Moreno, after he and another city employee were blamed for the July 4, 2021, city-wide boil-water notice. Both were subsequently fired from their positions.

Two months after being terminated, however, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) released their findings of the cause of the boil-water notice and according to Mr. Moreno’s attorney, his client was not named, nor was the department he oversaw for 21 years.

Now, with those findings and the ruling by the 4th Court of Appeals, Tony says he wants his job back.

“I would like to come back and continue working for the City of Laredo,” said Moreno. “I’ve worked there for 20 plus years, I’ve been very professional, and I’ve done a very profession job.”

As an Environmental Engineer with a Class A Water License and 21 years with the City’s Water Treatment Plant, Tony says he understands how Laredo’s water works system, and wants to show the city they made a mistake.

“With me returning to work, it tells the city they were wrong in terminating me.” It’s been about a year and a month that Tony has been unemployed. The city not even reinstating him after they were given the final report by the TCEQ that listed low chlorine levels in Laredo’s pipes as the cause of the boil water notice—not the chlorine levels at the City’s two water plants, which Tony oversaw. It’s a clear exoneration of Moreno, according to his attorney.

“Because it doesn’t have that in its finding, that essentially absolves Mr. Moreno of the water boil notice in 2021,” said Carlos Evaristo Flores, Attorney representing Tony Moreno. “The city knows that and have known this since the report came out in November, and for them to continue to fight this and continue to appeal would just be spending—wasting—taxpayers’ dollars knowing that this guy (Moreno) was the fall guy.” Because of this, Moreno filed a lawsuit against the City of Laredo for wrongful termination, and in September of 2021, Judge Lopez ruled the city should reinstate Tony while his lawsuit goes through the court system.

But the city refused and instead appealed the decision to the 4th Court of Appeals. The city lost there too with the Appellate Judges siding with the 49th Court of Appeals that Tony can be reinstated to his position temporarily.

“So, our next step is to come back to the District Court, have the injunction reinstated so that Tony can return to work,” said Flores. “This way he can be given all the back pay and damages that he has not been receiving since he was terminated unlawfully.”

In response to the ruling made by the 4th Court of Appeals, the city responded in a statement, saying in part:

“The decision by the Fourth Court of Appeals does not signify the end of the case. The case concerning the merits of the termination is now going to be addressed by the 49th District Court. It should be noted that Mr. Tony Moreno was given a full hearing before the Municipal Civil Service Commission, which upheld his termination. We continue to work in the best interest of our community.”

Even so, the latest ruling now places Tony one step closer to the job he says he is eager to return to.

“I think I can bring forward the experience of my 20 years back to the City of Laredo and try to see if we can fix the water situation that’s been occurring for a number of years that has surfaced once again,” said Tony. “And I’d like to be part of the resolution as well.”

Of interest are the findings made by the TCEQ of what caused the boil-water notice of July 2021. The three areas identified by the state agency are:

1. Laredo’s aging pipes that need to be replaced.

2. The city’s lack of a nitrification action plan to address bacteria growth in the pipes.

3. The lack of a routine flushing program to ensure proper chlorine levels in the pipes.

A date for the hearing in the 49th District Court to have the injunction reinstated has not yet been determined.

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