Termination Of Employee Refusing To Perform Copyright Infringement Was Illegal

The Texas Court of Appeals for the Second District found that an employee was wrongfully terminated from an architecture firm when he refused to engage in behavior that he believed would expose him to liability for criminal copyright infringement. Young v. Nortex Foundation Designs, Case No. 02-11-00470 (Tex. App., Feb. 7, 2013).

Young, employed by an architecture firm as a drafter, was asked to design a foundation plan based on the copyrighted architectural designs provided to him by his employer. The architectural designs he was asked to work on had a black stamp stating "if this stamp is not red it is an illegal set of plans." The stamp also stated "reproduction of these plans by any means is prohibited by federal law." In light of the black stamp Young told his supervisor that he was uncomfortable working on the plans. His supervisor told Young that he would be fired if he refused the assignment. Young refused and was terminated. He subsequently filed a claim for