[larissa0227]

I need some help in this matter. While I do have a concealed weapons permit and DO carry my handgun loaded in my Honda Odyssey, I am far from crazy. I have been top sales in my company of which I have been employed for 5 years. I have never had any disciplinary write ups, (or any write ups for that matter) and have been very successful within the company. As of Monday, December 20th, I was suspended stating that I was being investigated on grounds that I brought a "weapon" onto company property. In fact, what happened, was that I had my sons M14 airsoft rifle delivered to my work place so that it was not delivered to my home while no one but my son was home. I simply wanted to surprise him. My mother works in the same office building and she was to take the gun from my work, straight to her home to wrap the gun for me and bring it over Christmas morning so that my son would be completely surprised. I opened the airsoft gun (TOY WITH the orange tip on it non the less) and took a look at it to make sure it was what I had ordered before my mother took the gun with her. Apparently, it offended a tree hugger in my office and HR was immediately contacted. I was treated as a Criminal for a week (the week of Christmas) as only my Office Manager would speak to me at all. My Regional Manager would not talk to me nor could I speak to anyone in the office even on a personal level as it would call for immediate termination. As of Monday, December 27, I was advised that my employment had been terminated specifically stated "violating an ____ standard of conduct, specifically having a weapon on company property".
WTF???? IT IS A TOY GUN!!! I am still just mind boggled at how this could have happened. There are butcher knives in the kitchen drawer and I am terminated over a toy?? I need help here. Can someone PLEASE point me in the right direction?? I do not have money for an attorney as I do not have a job, but I need someone to help me in where to go with this. I have filed an appeal as I just do not see how you can carry an airsoft gun on a plane but you can get fired from your job.....This doesn't make sense. Please.....Someone???!

 

[dcannon1]

Sorry that happened

You could get a lawyer and sue for wrongful termination, however with GA being an At Will state I'm not sure how it would play out.

 

[gunsmoker]

With Georgia being an at-will employment state that does not recognize a cause of action for "wrongful discharge" unless some state or federal law specifically creates such a cause of action... I know how it would play out.

You lose.

But have you appealed your termination to the company higher-ups? Your company sounds like it's run by idiots and if you publicize what happened to you, I'll bet 9 out of 10 people hearing the story will agree. They'll think the company is being stupid and treating you badly and 1 out of 10 will think: "Thank God that crazy man was fired. Workplace violence is supposed to be taken seriously!!" If I were the owners of your company, I would not want anybody calling attention to how stupid our HR department is (equally stupid as the public school systems, with their 'zero tolerance' policies).

 

[TippinTaco]

i aqgree with above. Appeal it, if that fails I'd start calling every news media you can to get the story out there, not that it would help any but negative publicity for companies during this economy can hurt some.

I'm truly sorry you're co-workers are [email protected]#$... and I hope you can bounce back from this as quickly as possible. If they can treat you like this, then you didnt want to work there long anyways..

 

[elandil]

Big company or small?

Big companies tend to have a 800# for ethics violations and things of that ilk. Keep pushing that way, and keep fighting.

Smaller company, try to get as high as you can.

Otherwise, start getting the media involved. Like was said before, public opinion can do a lot more toward getting the way higher up's involved.

 

[Nullifier]

My advice will be somewhat different. It sounds like they were trying to find an excuse to get rid of you, and they finally found one, no matter how flimsy and ridiculous it may be. Ask yourself if you really want to work for a company that would treat you like that, and fire you over something as trivial as a child's toy ordered as a Christmas gift.

I believe it would be a waste of time, effort, energy and money to try to get your old job back--who wants to work at a place where you're not welcome anyway?

My suggestion would be to look forward, not backward. Did you sign a non-compete agreement? If not, go find a job with a gun-friendly competitor, and use your skills to further their business and set new records for yourself.

Yes, they were wrong to fire you for something this trivial. But I don't know if it's worth the trouble to fight it.

 

[kwikrnu]

It had an orange tip, why would anyone think it was real?

 

[mb90535im]

The fact that they violated your 1st Amendment right by not even letting you speak to anyone...

You might want to re-read the 1st Amendment, paying close attention to the first five words.

 

[RecoveringYankee]

It had an orange tip, why would anyone think it was real?

Not the point. They don't care if it is not real. That is the point of zero tolerance, you don't have to use your brain to make those distinctions. A real gun, a pretend gun, a drawing of a gun, the word "gun" - they are all treated the same.

 

[kwikrnu]

Not the point. They don't care if it is not real. That is the point of zero tolerance, you don't have to use your brain to make those distinctions. A real gun, a pretend gun, a drawing of a gun, the word "gun" - they are all treated the same.

The OP said nothing about zero tolerance.

"As of Monday, December 27, I was advised that my employment had been terminated specifically stated "violating an ____ standard of conduct, specifically having a weapon on company property".

 

[Nullifier]

[You might want to re-read the 1st Amendment, paying close attention to the first five words.

Done, and retracted. Thanks for the correction. :righton:

 

[RecoveringYankee]

Not the point. They don't care if it is not real. That is the point of zero tolerance, you don't have to use your brain to make those distinctions. A real gun, a pretend gun, a drawing of a gun, the word "gun" - they are all treated the same.

The OP said nothing about zero tolerance.

"As of Monday, December 27, I was advised that my employment had been terminated specifically stated "violating an ____ standard of conduct, specifically having a weapon on company property".

The OP did not use the words zero tolerance, but this is the spirit of what it means. It comes down to what you consider a weapon. No, scratch that. It comes down to what the employer considers a weapon.

If you put thought into it, you know that a toy is not a weapon. If you approach it from a zero tolerance point of view, anything that looks like a weapon is a weapon.

It does not matter that you, kwik, or I, or anyone else on this site does not consider this a weapon. The company does because of their way of looking at it, which is zero tolerance.

 

[Puffyfish]

I'd like to know the name of the company. We could send airsoft guns to the offended person as well as HR people.
There are plenty of really cheap ones, hilarity would ensue with these asshats getting fired. They deserve to get what they have handed out.
With a nice group effort several key people would end up in a major bind. Perhaps then they might re think their policy on "toys".

Fight fire with fire. I have a few airsoft guns I'd be willing to give up just to facilitate the mission.

 

[Aberk]

I'd like to know the name of the company. We could send airsoft guns to the offended person as well as HR people.
There are plenty of really cheap ones, hilarity would ensue with these asshats getting fired. They deserve to get what they have handed out.
With a nice group effort several key people would end up in a major bind. Perhaps then they might re think their policy on "toys".

Fight fire with fire. I have a few airsoft guns I'd be willing to give up just to facilitate the mission.

I like this idea.

 

[chainsaw123]

I'd like to know the name of the company. We could send airsoft guns to the offended person as well as HR people.
There are plenty of really cheap ones, hilarity would ensue with these asshats getting fired. They deserve to get what they have handed out.
With a nice group effort several key people would end up in a major bind. Perhaps then they might re think their policy on "toys".

Fight fire with fire. I have a few airsoft guns I'd be willing to give up just to facilitate the mission.

I like this idea.

I would cooperate in this exercise :righton: :righton:

 

[NTA]

What I've learned this year, seen it three times:
folks that jump past the chain of command and make an HR complaint always do well
HR always takes their side

if the complainer says they are offended then that is evidence that they have been subject to a hostile workplace

with a little creativity and a call to an employment lawyer for some coaching, they will get a nice payday

The key is to work for a company too small to have an HR Dept.

 

[sirkut]

I'd like to know the name of the company. We could send airsoft guns to the offended person as well as HR people.
There are plenty of really cheap ones, hilarity would ensue with these asshats getting fired. They deserve to get what they have handed out.
With a nice group effort several key people would end up in a major bind. Perhaps then they might re think their policy on "toys".

Fight fire with fire. I have a few airsoft guns I'd be willing to give up just to facilitate the mission.

I like this idea.

Woah, epic win for that idea.

 

[175FO]

I'd like to know the name of the company. We could send airsoft guns to the offended person as well as HR people.
There are plenty of really cheap ones, hilarity would ensue with these asshats getting fired. They deserve to get what they have handed out.
With a nice group effort several key people would end up in a major bind. Perhaps then they might re think their policy on "toys".

Fight fire with fire. I have a few airsoft guns I'd be willing to give up just to facilitate the mission.

I would gladly purchase an airsoft gun to do this.

 

[NTA]

No doubt this could be expensive for you. Harassment and all, by folks injecting themselves into the lives of strangers.

 

[gunsmoker]

some of the OP's former co-workers might need some hands-on exposure with an AirSoft gun to understand it's just a toy, no more dangerous than if you used a rubber band stretched between two fingers to shoot a paper clip (partially straightened-out) across the room.

I happen to have an Air-Soft copy of an M1911 I'd donate to the cause. It's all black and looks real, except for the orange tip.