Author’s note: The attached video aired on June 19, 2025, and reported the firing of the Texas Funeral Services Commission’s former executive director.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Funeral Services Commission, or TFSC, faces a civil lawsuit brought by its former executive director, who claims that he was fired after reporting the TFSC presiding commissioners’ actions to the Governor’s Office.
Scott Bingaman, a former executive director of TFSC, filed the lawsuit in Travis County District Court on Tuesday. The agency’s commissioners voted to fire Bingaman during a June 18 meeting while in closed session.
The lawsuit names TFSC, Presiding Commissioner Kristen Tips, and commissioners Larry Allen, Kevin Combest, Eric Opelia, Jonathan Scepanski and Timothy Brown as defendants.
A TFSC staff attorney said Thursday morning that the commission had no comment on the lawsuit and that it wouldn’t speak for the commissioners. KXAN has reached out to those commissioners.
Austin legal firm Stone Hilton PLLC represents Bingaman in the filing.
What is the lawsuit over?
Bingaman’s attorneys argue in the lawsuit that defendants violated Texas’ Open Meetings Act, Whistleblower Act and Occupational Code. They ask the court to reinstate Bingaman and compel the commissioners to follow those laws in the future.
The alleged violation of the Occupational Code constituted failure to notify the Governor’s Office about alleged acts by Tips that were “potential grounds for removal,” the lawsuit states. That code requires TFSC’s executive director to report such actions to the presiding commissioner, who must then report it to the Governor’s Office.
“Plaintiff notified the presiding officer of the TFSC, Kristin Tips, of her potential grounds for removal. Upon information and belief, Commissioner Tips refused her ministerial duty to notify the Governor of the potential grounds for her removal,” the lawsuit states.
‘The rot in the commission’
The filing also includes several addenda, including a June 17 memo from Bingaman to the TFSC commissioners and the Governor’s Office. Bingaman wrote that he created the memo “in case I am not allowed to speak.”
“On January 13, 2025, at Tips’ instruction, I submitted a letter to the Governor Abbott … Tips directed me to include in the letter the following [additions] … Tips failed to tell me that these additions are all self-serving and misleading,” he wrote in his June 17 memo. “This letter, submitted to Governor Abbott under my signature, supported Tips’ own personal interests using agency resources to do so. This is a serious conflict of interest and a breach of public trust.”
The lawsuit also includes an email, allegedly sent by Tips, that asks Bingaman to make changes to his drafted letter. Those included “capping non-economic damages in suits against funeral homes.” Bingaman claims Tips’ “personal interest” in limiting damages comes from her position as a funeral services company’s president.
That letter, taken from the filing, is included below:
“The rot in the Commission extends beyond Tips,” wrote Bingaman in the letter. “Since 2019, the agency has had seven acting or permanent executive directors. The Commissioners are responsible for setting the tone and direction of the agency. This Commission has singularly failed in that responsibility. They have failed our licensees, the public, our staff, and the legislature. This needs to end.”