Police Chief Whistleblower Alleging FBI Data Misuse Can Sue

Fort Worth, Texas, must face a lawsuit by its former police chief who says he was fired for investigating and reporting to the FBI the city’s illegal practices involving access to the bureau’s criminal justice information systems database, the Texas Court of Appeals ruled.

The city failed to establish Joel Fitzgerald’s suit was premature because he didn’t pursue its grievance process before taking his Texas Whistleblower Act and other claims to court, Justice Cory L. Carlyle said Tuesday.

Fort Worth argued that a lower court lacked jurisdiction over the suit, relying on an affidavit from a city employee labor relations ...