« Assisted-opening knives protected by new statute | Main | FBI watch list »
Man fired for looking for a gun part online
An employee of Planco, a subsidiary of Hartford Insurance, was fired after having been seen looking for parts for his skeet gun. His boss admitted she "was scared" of guns, and reported it to their HR department, together with word that he was an NRA member.
5 Comments | Leave a comment
I feel for the guy. Many years ago, before the internet was well known and when I owned only 1 .22 pistol and wasn't considered a gun nut by anyone ... I was at a temp job and putting together a cover for a screenplay project I was about to market that included a rifle (the manager had told me to practice my graphic arts skills, as that was what I was there for and I only had projects about 1/2 the day).
The woman who I was reporting to who had been very friendly to the point found the pictures, freaked, and without a word to me had me escorted off the premises. The person who surprised me with the news and escorted me (to keep everyone else safe and keep me under control, I gues) was a very nice lady, about 5'6", 98 lbs and head of H.R. I was a twenty-something male into power lifting at 6'3" 235 lbs.
We traded a few jokes about the size difference but of course it didn't matter that she was a fraction of my size, because they wanted me to leave so I left. And found out later why.
Really ticked me off. It was my first experience with what anti-gun people are really like; all emotion and no common sense or desire to understand.
I think a lawsuit would be in order.
Not sure, but the company may well be able to defend the firing on the grounds of the employee misappropriating company resources- goofing off and using the company's computer and Internet connection for personal use.
Having been both an employer and a supervisor of employees, I'd have some sympathy for that charge.
(He wrote, sitting at his desk...)
Reading the article shows the company was looking for an excuse to fire the party as he had a medical condition. Irregardless of how thin the pretext, the company better be prepared to demonstrate that they have a policy regarding misappropriation of company resources and evidence that they enforce this fairly and equitably for all employees. The report that the fired party was an "NRA member" already is grounds for a suit.
Can't he report her to HR for a severe case of hoplophobia? She might need to get some mental help.