Dallas Employment Lawyer Blog
Dallas Senior Trial Attorney Deontae Wherry
Juneteenth started right here in Texas. On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston with General Order No. 3 and finally announced freedom for the enslaved people of Texas, more than two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Texas was the first state to recognize Juneteenth as an official holiday in 1980, and Congress made it a federal holiday in 2021.
Is Juneteenth a Paid Holiday for You?
It depends on your employer. Federal employees and most state employees get Juneteenth as a paid holiday. Private employers in Texas are not required by state or federal law to provide paid time off for any holiday, including Juneteenth. Whether you get the day, and whether you get paid for it, comes down to your company’s policy.
That does not mean your employer can do whatever it wants. How your company treats the day, and how it treats you for wanting to observe it, can still cross the line into illegal discrimination.
Equal Treatment, Equal Holidays
Title VII and Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code prohibit employers from treating workers differently because of race. That principle reaches into holiday policies and time-off decisions too.
Warning signs to take seriously:
- • Your company closes for Christmas, Memorial Day, and the Fourth of July, but refuses to recognize Juneteenth.
- • Your manager approves coworkers’ PTO requests for other holidays without question, then suddenly finds reasons to deny Black employees’ requests for June 19.
- • Some employees get Juneteenth off without using PTO, while you are told to use your accrued time or make up the hours.
- • A supervisor makes jokes or hostile comments about Juneteenth, slavery, or Black history.
Each of these can be evidence of race discrimination on its own. Together, they can build a strong case.
When the “Celebration” Itself Is the Problem
A workplace Juneteenth event can be a positive thing. It can also create real problems for employees when companies handle it poorly. Common examples include:
- • The food and the theme. A company that orders fried chicken, watermelon, and red drinks and calls it a Juneteenth “celebration,” with no thought to what those choices signal. What gets served, who picked it, and how Black employees are made to feel can all be evidence of a hostile work environment.
- • Putting Black employees on display. Requiring only Black employees to plan the event, present, or share personal stories about race in front of coworkers.
- • Performative observances with no substance. Hosting an event that leans into racial stereotypes, then sidelining Black employees who decline to participate.
All of these can be the foundation of a race discrimination or hostile work environment claim.
Speaking Up Is Protected
You also have the right to push back. If you go to HR or your manager and say, “Why does this company close for every other holiday but treat Juneteenth differently?” or “The food and theme of our Juneteenth event felt offensive to Black employees,” that is protected activity under both Title VII and the Texas Labor Code. Your employer cannot lawfully punish you for raising the complaint.
Retaliation often shows up quickly after a complaint like that: a sudden negative performance review, a missed promotion you were on track for, a schedule change, exclusion from key meetings, write-ups for things no one cared about before, or termination. When that kind of treatment lands right after a race-related complaint, the timing alone can be powerful evidence.
If This Sounds Familiar, Call Us
If you believe you have been harassed or retaliated against because of your race, please contact my office to schedule a consultation. We will listen to your story, look closely at the facts, and help you understand your rights under both Texas and federal law. Juneteenth is Freedom Day and it should be celebrated by all.