Posted by Norm357:
However, if your not in a right to work state they could fire you for refusal to allow the search.
'Right to work' only protects you from being forced to join a union as a condition of employment.
It has nothing to do with termination of employment for reasons other than refusal to join a union.
A lot of states that have RTW laws are also 'at will' states. This mean s that an employer can fire you for any reason at any time.
The only exception to 'any reason' is that you can't violate any of the antidiscrimination laws when terming someone. For example, you can't fire an employee because he's black or is a Wiccan.
If you're under a union contract, you have recourse against an unjust termination that you wouldn't have in a non-union shop in an 'at will' state.
As far as WebHobbit goes, we both work at the same place.
In fact, I'm an ex-Union steward, so I know a little about the rules.
But we've never had the situation come up, so I don't know the answer for certain. Our contract is silent on the issue.
However, the conduct of the LP (Loss Prevention) and HR people leads me to believe that
they don't think they could force someone to allow a search of their vehicle.
The company we both work for is somewhat contemptious of due process and unjustly terms people at the drop of a hat. The flip side of this is that the Union wins over 80% of the arbitration cases and the termed people get their jobs back.
This has gone on for years.
Given the Company's track record of ignoring their own policies and the contract when it suits them, I believe that if they thought they had a right to force WebHobbit to open up his car, they would have done so that day.
As far as calling the police goes, the PD isn't a private security force.
The cops may come out at the report of an employee having a firearm in their vehicle, but after Webhobbit shows them his carry permit, would they even want to search the car?
After all, at that point he's breaking no law by carrying a gun in his car.
If the police still went ahead and searched the car (despite the total lack of any probable cause and that even if a handgun was found, it's perfectly legal for him to have) , it's still not their job to inform the employer of what was found.
I'm no lawyer, but if the police searched my car for a firearm at the request of my employer after I showed them my pistol permit that legalizes the carrying of said gun, I might have grounds to sue the PD.
One caveat:
Despite what I wrote above, I (I have a CCW as well) don't carry a gun in my vehicle while I'm at work. While I'm fairly certain I'm right, I'm not totally certain that I am.
Carry at your own risk.