Employer Wants To Know About Firearms/CHL

[SAK]

In the quest to "care for our employees" my employer is forcing everyone to electronically submit "Medical History" and "Domestic Assessment" surveys consisting of the following areas:

What really gets me is some of the questions on the "Domestic Assessment"

"Do you own or have access to firearms?
"Do you take part in activities with firearms or other dangerous weapons? "
"Do you or your partner possess a Concealed Handgun License issued by your state of residence?"

I would answer these - DNPTH.
Does Not Pertain To Health.

Sounds better than Nunya Business.

[Excaliber]

You need to understand your rights, options, and probable outcomes before you make any decisions.

My suggestion would be to speak to a labor law attorney. Many attorneys will give you a free consultation to understand what you need done and whether you have a strong legal basis to act on. One source for finding such attorneys is here.

Since there are several of your coworkers with the same concern, if there are costs involved, perhaps they can be shared.

[ELB]

That list of stuff the company wants to know is wildly intrusive, and I wouldn't put up with it. But I also am in a position I don't have to. It is certainly more invasive than I remember getting into the military was, or getting a security clearance.

Given the unreasonable attempt to punish (via nonhiring or firing) clearly law abiding people who might exercise their self-defense rights (I don't think they are asking CHL info so they can pat him on the head), I would not be adverse to seeing the Legislature weight in on this a bit.

But the Leg will need to fix a couple other things. I suspect an even deeper reason for this invasion of privacy (other than general hostility to firearms people) is the fear of liability. Because of the general legal principle that whoever-has-a-big-checkbook-must-be-liable-for-whatever-happened-to-my-idiot-client, corporations are very skittish about even tiny amounts of probability in certain areas.

For example, a couple years ago in Indianapolis a would-be robber took hostage an unarmed "security" guard in a Kroger grocery store. The store assistant manager shot the would-be robber, killing him. Good shoot legally...but it was against Kroger's policy to have a gun. Because of community reaction, Kroger held off firing the manager, but after awhile he "resigned" on "good terms" with Kroger, which to me says they probably asked him to leave with some severance pay and maybe some health insurance for awhile, making it clear he was going no where in the Kroger system.

Subsequently, the robber's mother sued Kroger (and I think the manager) because Kroger failed to enforce its no-gun policy and that caused the death of her son. Her would-be robber son, who also had a hefty criminal record if I recall correctly.

Then the "security guard" also sued Kroger and the manager for the emotional trauma she suffered because she witnessed the death of the would-be robber. Yes, the "security guard" who was supposed to be guarding the store and its employees, and whose bacon was saved by the store employee. (I think someone should take a hard look at her and possible connections between her and the robber; when the smoke cleared it turned out the robber had no gun, had grabbed the security guard and stuck something in her back and was bluffing. The manager did not know it was a bluff, so good shoot, but sounds awfully fishy to me.)

Both of these are idiot lawsuits, but they were filed by plaintiffs with lawyers, and Kroger and the manager had to deal with them in court, costing them time and money better spent elsewhere. Indiana has a civil immunity provision somewhat like Texas, but still the manager has to go to court, and I don't think it applies to Kroger. I believe from reading various articles that Kroger had a good case based on precedents in Indiana law that would mean they are not liable even if they weren't enforcing their own policies, but they still have to jump through the hoops.

Thus if we require businesses to not generally disarm their employees, we should also render businesses free of liability if one of those employees does in fact legally defend himself.

[txbirddog]

In the quest to "care for our employees" my employer is forcing everyone to electronically submit "Medical History" and "Domestic Assessment" surveys consisting of the following areas:

What really gets me is some of the questions on the "Domestic Assessment"

"Do you own or have access to firearms?
"Do you take part in activities with firearms or other dangerous weapons? "
"Do you or your partner possess a Concealed Handgun License issued by your state of residence?"

I would answer these - DNPTH.
Does Not Pertain To Health.

Sounds better than Nunya Business.

By asking if I or my "partner",,,,,,it would seem to me that they are insinuating sexual orientation,,,,,,that is a BIG no no with EEOC. Looks like they are also intruding into medical areas they may not be privy to:

http://resources.lawinfo.com/labor-empl ... ds-or.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In asking about tobacco use:

http://resources.lawinfo.com/labor-employment/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Check out the last question and her answer:

http://www.justanswer.com/employment-la ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This may provide some relief:

"According to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act in workplaces with more than 15 employees (ADA text, 42 USC §12101 et seq.)

Employers may not ask job applicants about medical information or require a physical examination prior to offering employment. After employment is offered, an employer can only ask for a medical examination if it is required of all employees holding similar jobs.
If you are turned down for work based on the results of a medical examination, the employer must prove that it is physically impossible for you to do the work required.
Report violations of the ADA to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Phone: (800) 669-4000. Web: http://www.eeoc.gov" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

For more on health information in the workplace, see the Department of Health and Human Services webpage on Employers and Health Information in the Workplace."
Source:
https://www.privacyrights.org/medical-records-privacy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just to let everyone know IANAL but it is a starting point. OP should check Texas statutes specifically as we have specific protections or not.