Raelene Critchlow, 86, receives a visit from her great-grandchild Camille Carter, 6, at Creekside Senior Living, on April 23, 2020, in Bountiful, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

The former general counsel of a commercial real estate development firm near Dallas has filed a lawsuit that paints her ex-boss as an uncaring scrooge who fired her for declining to violate a local stay-at-home order by reporting to work during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. 

Amy Reggio alleges in a wrongful termination suit filed Thursday in Dallas County that Mark Tekin, sole manager and president of Tekin & Associates, "repeatedly refused" to let her work from home and was "belligerent and annoyed" that she'd even asked. 

"Unfortunately, although employees want to abide by the legal restrictions and protect the health of their families and communities, some employers are flouting the restrictions and threatening (whether implicitly or explicitly) with termination unless they agree to violate the law with criminal consequences," the suit states. 

An attempt to speak with Tekin was not immediately successful. Reggio's attorney, Joshua Iacuone of the Rogge Dunn Group in Dallas, also did not respond to an interview request Friday. Reggio's suit names Tekin & Associates as the sole defendant. 

Reggio, who lives in Dallas with her husband and minor child, joined Tekin & Associates as general counsel in early December 2019. She asked to work from home after Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, who is leading the local coronavirus response, issued an order requiring county residents to "shelter in place."

According to the complaint, Reggio told Tekin that under Jenkins' order she was not allowed to travel to work at Tekin & Associates in nearby Collin County, but assured him that she could fulfill her duties at home. 

Tekin "told her working from home did not work for him and it would not be allowed or considered," the suit states. The complaint also notes that real estate development is not an essential business.

In an attempt to convince Tekin to change his mind, Reggio emailed him March 27. She explained that she hoped he would "stop trying to require me (and other Dallas County residents and residents of other counties with the same orders) under the threat of termination to come to the office in violation of various government orders/laws that will subject me to criminal penalties."

Minutes after receiving the email, Tekin allegedly fired Reggio.

She's now seeking compensatory damages for lost wages, benefits, future earnings and mental anguish along with punitive damages stemming from Tekin & Associates' alleged "malicious, reckless, and consciously indifferent conduct."