The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit has ruled that an Oklahoma employer was acting within its legal rights when it fired workers for violating its policy barring firearms in the company's parking lots.
In 2002, the Weyerhaeuser Company launched a sweep of its facility and parking lot because it had become concerned about substance abuse at its mill. During the sweep, security personnel uncovered firearms in several of the workers' vehicles parked in the employee parking lot. The company fired the workers for violating its policy barring firearms.
The fired workers filed a lawsuit, claiming wrongful discharge and a violation of their constitutional rights. A district court judge rejected the workers' arguments.
The workers then appealed to U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, saying the lower court erred in "determining a private property owner-employer may impose restrictions upon the lawful keeping and transportation of firearms in locked vehicles parked in" the employee parking lot.
However, the appeals court rejected the workers' arguments as well. The appeals court ruled that the company was acting under the authority of a section of the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act when it fired the workers for violating its policy on firearms.
The relevant section of the law, as written at the time of the terminations, stated: "Nothing contained in any provision of the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act . . . shall be construed to limit, restrict or prohibit in any manner the existing rights of any person, property owner, tenant, employer, or business entity to control the possession of weapons on any property owned or controlled by the person or business entity."
The workers argued that the provision was unconsitutional, but the court disagreed.
"We have concluded that section as written at the time of plaintiffs' terminations, which authorizes Weyco to restrict the bringing of firearms onto its property, including the employee parking lot, is constitutional,." the appeals court wrote.
In March 2004, sixteen months after the Weyerhaeuser Company fired the workers for violating its gun policy, the state legislature amended the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act to say:
"No person, property owner, tenant, employer, or business entity shall be permitted to establish any policy or rule that has the effect of prohibiting any person, except a convicted felon, from transporting and storing firearms in a locked vehicle on any property set aside for any vehicle."
The fired workers argued that the 2004 amendment applied retroactively, but the appeals court rejected that argument as well.
A group of employers in the state is challenging the 2004 amendment. In November 2004, a court granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the state from enforcing the 2004 amendment. The employers are seeking a permanent block of the provision.
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