Here are a couple of situations to illustrate the prohibition.TVGuy wrote:
This law does exist and was quoted earlier, it's 52.061 of the Labor Code.
Employee: I would like to have my gun in my car in your parking lot.
Employer: Texas LC 52.061 keeps me from prohibiting you from having your gun in your car, therefore the answer to your question is, you don't need my permission, the state of Texas says you can and says I can't stop you. However, if you decide to avail yourself of that statute you should know that you will be immediately fired from your employment at this firm.
Firing someone for violating the employer's conditions of employment is just that, firing someone for violating the employer's conditions of employment. The Texas courts have historically been very careful not to add to any of the few, very specific statutory exceptions to the employment at will doctrine.
This is not a non-discrimination clause as is something like the anti-discrimination based on gender, age, handicap, national origin, sexual orientation and the like. Those statutes state that an employer shall not discriminate against an employee in any employment practice on account of any of these protections.
52.061 doesn't appear to be an anti-discrimination statute. It simply limits what an employer may do regarding prohibiting having a gun in a parking lot.
Imagine a statute that says an employer can't create any rule prohibiting you from eating snow cones in the parking lot. You point to that statute that states you may eat a snow cone in the parking lot as you decide to eat a snow cone as is your statutory RIGHT, or to speak to a passerby, as is your CONSTITUTIONALLY ENUMERATED RIGHT, or wear a red shirt, as is your constitutional RIGHT, or talk with disrespect to the owner while in the parking lot, as is your CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT, or store your gun in your concealed in your vehicle as is your STATE STATUTORY RIGHT...and at the end of the day the employer fires you for disrespect, or eating a snow cone, or speaking to a passerby, or for wearing a red shirt, or for having a gun, as is his right to do so under the employment at will doctrine spelled out in the labor code and reams of appellate case law.
52.061 does not state that the employer may not discriminate in any of its employment practices against anyone having a gun in his vehicle. It does not create another exception to the employment at will doctrine. It creates a statutory offense against the employer that can be the basis of a tort where damages or remedies can be sought by the unfortunate employee if the employer tries to prohibit him from having a gun in the parking lot.
I suspect that most of the employment at will challenges involve an employee who believes his RIGHTS are trampled on. The courts take the attitude the employer can terminate for good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all. Again, the labor code creates only about 6 main exceptions to this fire-at-will free-for-all in addition to the federal and state discrimination statutes, having to do with unions, retaliation against filings of workmen's comp and the like, and jury service, active duty, compliance with subpoena, etc. The entire Labor Code makes for some very interesting reading. I recommend it to everyone interested in this subject.
tex