lee n. field
New member
Shut up.
You'll know better next time. Now go find another job.
BTW, you didn't have to sign that statement. I wouldn't have.
I was suspended from my job for having a gun.
- Thread starter Travalanche
- Start date
Shut up.
You'll know better next time. Now go find another job.
BTW, you didn't have to sign that statement. I wouldn't have.
BigD_in_FL
Moderator
His truck was in the company-owned parking lot.
Now, here in FL, that is a non-issue. Carrying it into work is another matter (certain locations are restricted nonetheless like power plants)
4runnerman
New member
His truck was in the company-owned parking lot.
BigD-That is the point I was trying to make. In certain states it does not matter if it was on company property. The company can do nothing about it. They can enforce the not in the building policy,but have no legal ruling about on their property. That is dictated by the state,not the company.
I happen to work in one of those States ( ND ). Their property or not, The State dictates the law in this case. In ND ( and many other states ) The law is
No company shall dictate any law forbidding citizens to have a fire arm in their vehicle whether on their property or not. This includes employees of said company.
BigD-That is the point I was trying to make. In certain states it does not matter if it was on company property. The company can do nothing about it. They can enforce the not in the building policy,but have no legal ruling about on their property. That is dictated by the state,not the company.
I happen to work in one of those States ( ND ). Their property or not, The State dictates the law in this case. In ND ( and many other states ) The law is
No company shall dictate any law forbidding citizens to have a fire arm in their vehicle whether on their property or not. This includes employees of said company.
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My suggestion is that you try everything you can to keep your current job. Rather than "fired for cause" as the reason for leaving, and then questions about a gun at work, you need to stick this out, kiss all the tail you have to kiss, make any concessions you have to make, and keep your job if you can. Then, if you're really unhappy about their policy, in about 3 to 6 months or so, then leave.
I gotta tell you, showing a gun in your employers parking lot to a stranger was not the best choice. You did have a gun in your hands on company property while on the clock.
And I have no words that I can use on this forum to describe my opinion of the guy who engaged you in a conversation about guns and then turned you in as though you were a danger - unless there was something in the conversation that we don't know about.
I gotta tell you, showing a gun in your employers parking lot to a stranger was not the best choice. You did have a gun in your hands on company property while on the clock.
And I have no words that I can use on this forum to describe my opinion of the guy who engaged you in a conversation about guns and then turned you in as though you were a danger - unless there was something in the conversation that we don't know about.
From what I have seen, it's fairly common for weapons-related policy violations to result in a suspension that is then changed to a termination with a phone call.
My guess is that they want to get you off the property while you still think you have a chance of keeping your job and then fire you later once you are offsite so there's less chance of an incident.
I agree with Levant that getting terminated for cause for a weapons-related policy violation is a bad thing that could follow you around for a long time. If you can manage to get them to let you stick around for a few months--whatever it takes--and then find another job, you'd probably be better off in the long run.
My guess is that they want to get you off the property while you still think you have a chance of keeping your job and then fire you later once you are offsite so there's less chance of an incident.
I agree with Levant that getting terminated for cause for a weapons-related policy violation is a bad thing that could follow you around for a long time. If you can manage to get them to let you stick around for a few months--whatever it takes--and then find another job, you'd probably be better off in the long run.
"I decided to show the gun that WAS in my truck to the guy IN THE PARKING LOT"
Which,like it or not,as the story gets told in the truck drivers workplace"He then approached me in the parking lot with gun in hand"
Different folks can see the same event,and truthfully tell a different story from a different point of view.
Now,another harsh reality,and indiscretion on your part,OP.If you would like to keep your job,It was a bad idea to post the company name here.Likely someone at your company is a PR person who searches the internet for any reference to the company name.I would not,for any reason,post my employer's name on this forum.
It is time to develop a sense of politically taking good care of yourself.
You are not a victim,you made poor choices and there may be harsh consequences.
tyme and johnska are mods here.I suggest a PM to request this post be taken down.If your company's management becomes aware of this,you will be gone,IMO.
Which,like it or not,as the story gets told in the truck drivers workplace"He then approached me in the parking lot with gun in hand"
Different folks can see the same event,and truthfully tell a different story from a different point of view.
Now,another harsh reality,and indiscretion on your part,OP.If you would like to keep your job,It was a bad idea to post the company name here.Likely someone at your company is a PR person who searches the internet for any reference to the company name.I would not,for any reason,post my employer's name on this forum.
It is time to develop a sense of politically taking good care of yourself.
You are not a victim,you made poor choices and there may be harsh consequences.
tyme and johnska are mods here.I suggest a PM to request this post be taken down.If your company's management becomes aware of this,you will be gone,IMO.
ok, you're done. No matter what the stupid policy is, (no guns, red shirt on Tuesday, anything really) if its a written policy, and you did break it, then you are done, whenever they feel like it. And you don't have a valid defense, sorry.
This subject has come up for discussion recently, and basically, if its a company policy, and you knowingly break it (no matter how good a reason you have) then you're fired, if that's what they want. And they usually want it, because their lawyers tell them to.
Cases like yours are why some states passed laws protecting employees who are forced by company rules to leave their legally possessed arms in their vehicle. ALL states ought to do this, but not all have, nor likely will.
Good Luck
I think JohnKSa is correct that they suspended you to get you off the property with minimal confrontation.
If you do lose this job then get another in a non-corporate business, even something for 3-4 months to get another job on your resume between this one and the better one down the road. Learn the lesson of Op Sec and not flaunting policy, then move on and put some distance behind you. If necessary and possible move to another area and apply for job that is totally unrelated to what you are doing.
Roofing at least back in my day of doing it was chock full of sketchy pasts. But it is hard work and somewhat seasonal so there was a lot of turnover and no questions asked. Same for small time logging and mill operations. Lots of manual jobs are high turnover or seasonal and employers are more interested if you can and will do the hard work and not so much about your past.
Get one or two of those jobs behind you and be working on a long term plan. Or go to college or trade school for a year or more and "start over". Or do some subsistence volunteer work for 6 months to a year.
If you do lose this job then get another in a non-corporate business, even something for 3-4 months to get another job on your resume between this one and the better one down the road. Learn the lesson of Op Sec and not flaunting policy, then move on and put some distance behind you. If necessary and possible move to another area and apply for job that is totally unrelated to what you are doing.
Roofing at least back in my day of doing it was chock full of sketchy pasts. But it is hard work and somewhat seasonal so there was a lot of turnover and no questions asked. Same for small time logging and mill operations. Lots of manual jobs are high turnover or seasonal and employers are more interested if you can and will do the hard work and not so much about your past.
Get one or two of those jobs behind you and be working on a long term plan. Or go to college or trade school for a year or more and "start over". Or do some subsistence volunteer work for 6 months to a year.
States, unemployment....
My state has some of the most pro-employer/business labor laws & regulations in the nation.
You can be dismissed for nearly any reason without cause.
New changes were made to the state unemployment compensation system to make is easier for former employers to deny UC/unemployment benefits too.
BTW; my state also has one of the lowest weekly UC benefit payments in the USA too so don't think any unemployed residents can get rich off that system.
My state has some of the most pro-employer/business labor laws & regulations in the nation.
You can be dismissed for nearly any reason without cause.
New changes were made to the state unemployment compensation system to make is easier for former employers to deny UC/unemployment benefits too.
BTW; my state also has one of the lowest weekly UC benefit payments in the USA too so don't think any unemployed residents can get rich off that system.
On the subject of states that have preempted corporate regulation of guns in vehicles in corporate parking lots...
Wouldn't taking the gun out and showing it to someone go beyond what is covered in those state law protections? Are any of them written so broadly that a company can do nothing about an employee who shows off guns in a corporate parking lot?
Wouldn't taking the gun out and showing it to someone go beyond what is covered in those state law protections? Are any of them written so broadly that a company can do nothing about an employee who shows off guns in a corporate parking lot?
4runnerman
New member
Wouldn't taking the gun out and showing it to someone go beyond what is covered in those state law protections? Are any of them written so broadly that a company can do nothing about an employee who shows off guns in a corporate parking lot?
Tyme- I doubt it. I think that was over the line there. It's just something you don't do under and situation. Work is no place ever to show off guns.
Tyme- I doubt it. I think that was over the line there. It's just something you don't do under and situation. Work is no place ever to show off guns.
BigD_in_FL
Moderator
In FL, you leave your gun INSIDE your car, or your protection ends. There are some exceptions to even having one in your car - power plants is one that comes to mind
$8.30 an hour? I think the OP found a great way of collecting unemployment from his big zero of a job while he looks for better.
If the supervisor likes you, ask him personally to use him as a reference.
Whether you report to a prospective employer that you were terminated for cause or not is up to you. If there wasn't a clear policy, then it was not "for cause".
If the supervisor likes you, ask him personally to use him as a reference.
Whether you report to a prospective employer that you were terminated for cause or not is up to you. If there wasn't a clear policy, then it was not "for cause".
dakota.potts
New member
There is some protection in Florida, in different ways. I can't be fired for having a gun in my car. In Florida, I can open carry or concealed carry a handgun at my place of business, including limited places you couldn't otherwise carry (being a bar owner comes to mind). Any employee or even a regular volunteer with regular duties is consider to be "at their place of business" and can carry open or concealed without a license.
However, if I were to carry concealed and the grip poked out, an anti-gun employer may fire you on the spot without even giving justification. If I were asked to leave after doing so and refused to leave, it would be felony armed trespass.
So, in many ways Florida has more protection than it would seem in the OP's state. Doing the above, I couldn't have been arrested depending on the circumstances of showing it to the coworker (did I sweep coworker with the muzzle? Did I rack the slide aggressively?") but could have been fired the very second the boss heard about it.
However, if I were to carry concealed and the grip poked out, an anti-gun employer may fire you on the spot without even giving justification. If I were asked to leave after doing so and refused to leave, it would be felony armed trespass.
So, in many ways Florida has more protection than it would seem in the OP's state. Doing the above, I couldn't have been arrested depending on the circumstances of showing it to the coworker (did I sweep coworker with the muzzle? Did I rack the slide aggressively?") but could have been fired the very second the boss heard about it.
Aguila Blanca
Staff
If he ends up being discharged for cause, I doubt he'll be able to collect unemployment compensation.RX-79G said:
In any case, we're not really talking about an issue of law or civil rights as it pertains to interaction with the government.
We've got a situation in which someone entered into an employment agreement, showed a lack of discretion which violated that agreement, then found his employment terminated. If a gun wasn't involved, would we even be discussing this?
We've got a situation in which someone entered into an employment agreement, showed a lack of discretion which violated that agreement, then found his employment terminated. If a gun wasn't involved, would we even be discussing this?
dakota.potts
New member
If it were some other item we might be. Say his workplace bans alcohol and OP decides to take his coworker to his car to show him an awesome bottle of McCallan Single Malt that he picked up for the weekend. How would we feel about that? I personally don't know how I would feel about it. It might be a violation of the contract, and for that I can't fault them for terminating employment, but it was in the parking lot and displayed only briefly -- again accounting for the fact that I don't know exactly how the display went down.
I don't know that I've read anywhere that OP has had his contract terminated. Did I miss that? Could it be that the employers are still trying to figure out if they even can do that if it was in the parking lot?
I don't know that I've read anywhere that OP has had his contract terminated. Did I miss that? Could it be that the employers are still trying to figure out if they even can do that if it was in the parking lot?
Aguila Blanca
Staff
Probably not officially discharged yet, unless something has happened and he hasn't updated us. But post #8 wasn't sounding optimistic:dakota.potts said:
travalanch said: