Mississippi Supreme Court finds at-will doctrine exception

Mike Zinser

The State of Mississippi statute provides that "a public or private employer may not establish, maintain or enforce any policy or rule that has the effect of prohibiting a person from transporting or storing a firearm in a locked vehicle in any parking lot, parking garage or other designated parking area."

Despite this statute, an employer fired an employee after learning he had a firearm locked inside his car on company property. The employer had a company policy forbidding firearms anywhere on its property.

The employee brought suit for wrongful discharge. The case was dismissed in the lower court, based primarily on the at-will doctrine, which states that an employee can be fired for a good reason, a bad reason or no reason at all.

On appeal, the employee argued that an exception should be made to the employment-at-will doctrine because of the above-quoted statute. The Mississippi Supreme Court determined that, with the statute, the Legislature had already created an exception to the at-will doctrine. The court opined, "Stated differently, we find that the Legislature has declared it 'legally impermissible' for an employer to terminate an employee for having a firearm inside his locked vehicle on company property."

The court also noted that the Mississippi Constitution states in pertinent part: "The right of every citizen to keep and bear arms ... shall not be called in question." Under the circumstances, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that the at-will doctrine must yield to this express legislative action. 

L. Michael Zinser is the founding partner of The Zinser Law Firm in Nashville, Tenn. The firm, which has a heavy concentration of clients in communications media, represents management in the area of labor and employment. Zinser can be reached at (615) 244-9700 or mzinser@zinserlaw.com.