Sandra Fitzpatrick v. Leasecomm Corporation and East Texas Professional Credit Union, Longview

**What This Case Was About** Sandra Fitzpatrick worked for Leasecomm Corporation and had her paychecks automatically deposited into her account at East Texas Professional Credit Union. When someone tried to collect money from her through a legal process called garnishment (where creditors can take money directly from your bank account), Fitzpatrick argued that her wages should be protected from collection because Texas law typically shields workers' wages from being seized. **What the Court Decided** The court ruled against Fitzpatrick. The judges decided that once her wages were electronically deposited into her credit union account, they lost their special protection under Texas wage exemption laws. This meant the creditor could legally take money from her account through garnishment. **What This Means for Workers** This ruling has important implications for Texas workers who use direct deposit. While your wages are generally protected from creditors while they're still "wages," this protection may disappear once the money hits your bank account electronically. Workers facing debt collection should be aware that direct deposit might make their earnings more vulnerable to garnishment than receiving physical paychecks, depending on how courts interpret wage protection laws.