Know what qualifies as a restricted parking lot under Mississippi's firearms statute

As we've often noted, courts have recognized four exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine in Mississippi, one of which is based on a state statute prohibiting employers that don't satisfy certain requirements from terminating employees who legally store firearms in their locked cars in publicly accessible company parking lots. Recently, a federal court in Mississippi examined the scope of an employer's limited ability to prohibit employees from storing firearms in its parking lot. The court's decision is likely to affect a number of employers that prohibit firearms in their parking lots based on an incorrect belief that their current security measures are sufficient to satisfy the statute's requirements. Let's take a closer look.

Facts

Jeremy Cherry was employed as a cableman in the electrical department at Huntington Ingalls' Pascagoula shipyard. In April 2016, he was on his way to work, driving on the access road leading to the main gate of the construction area, when a security officer pulled him over for speeding. A subsequent search of his vehicle revealed he had a pistol and an ammunition clip in the glove box. Cherry was terminated for violating an Ingalls policy prohibiting firearms and other weapons on company property.