Parker v. Leaf River Cellulose, LLC

• Decision Date: 19 December 2014
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 2:14cv9–KS–MTP.
• Citation: 73 F.Supp.3d 687
• Parties: Joseph Edward PARKER, Plaintiff v. LEAF RIVER CELLULOSE, LLC, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Mississippi

73 F.Supp.3d 687

Joseph Edward PARKER, Plaintiff

v.LEAF RIVER CELLULOSE, LLC, Defendant.

Civil Action No. 2:14cv9–KS–MTP.

United States District Court, S.D. Mississippi, Eastern Division.

Signed Dec. 19, 2014.

Michael R. Martz, Freeland Martz, PLLC, Oxford, MS, for Plaintiff.

William T. Siler, Jr., Gregory Todd Butler, Phelps Dunbar, LLP, Jackson, MS, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

KEITH STARRETT, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on the Defendant Leaf River Cellulose, LLC's Motion to Dismiss [7]. Having considered the submissions of the parties and the applicable law, the Court finds that the motion is well taken and should be granted.

I. BACKGROUND

On January 23, 2014, Plaintiff Joseph Edward Parker filed suit against Leaf River Cellulose, LLC (“Leaf River”), his former employer, alleging that he was wrongfully discharged in violation of Mississippi law. (See Compl. [1].) The Complaint asserts that the Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this cause pursuant to Title 28 U.S.C. § 1332 (diversity of citizenship). Parker seeks, inter alia, attorney's fees, punitive damages, and a judgment in excess of $75,000.00 in relief. The Court is satisfied that the requirements of diversity jurisdiction are met in this case.

The following allegations of the Complaint are pertinent to the subject motion. Leaf River hired Parker in or around October of 2008 to work at its plant in New Augusta, Mississippi. On December 12, 2013, Leaf River received a report that Parker had a handgun in his vehicle that was located in an employee parking lot. Leaf River requested and was granted permission to search Parker's vehicle. Leaf River found a handgun in Parker's vehicle. Immediately following the search of Parker' vehicle, Leaf River “suspended Parker's employment and directed him to leave the premises.” (Compl. [1] at ¶ 12.) On December 13, 2013, Leaf River terminated Parker's employment. Leaf River's termination of Parker violated section 45–9–55 of the Mississippi Code (employee parking lots; employer liability).

Presently before the Court is Leaf River's Motion to Dismiss [7]. Leaf River seeks dismissal pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), and argues that this lawsuit is barred by subsection (5) of section 45–9–55. The motion has been fully briefed and the Court is ready to rule.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

To withstand a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id.; see also In re Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., 624 F.3d 201, 210 (5th Cir.2010) (“To be plausible, the complaint's ‘[f]actual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.’ ”) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ). A complaint containing mere “labels and conclusions, or a formulaic recitation of the elements” is insufficient. Bowlby v. City of Aberdeen, Miss., 681 F.3d 215, 219 (5th Cir.2012) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Although courts are to accept all well-pleaded facts as true and view those facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, courts are not required “to accept as true a legal conclusion couched as factual allegation.” Randall D. Wolcott, M.D., P.A. v. Sebelius, 635 F.3d 757, 763 (5th Cir.2011) (citations omitted). “[W]hen a successful affirmative defense appears on the face of the pleadings, dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) may be appropriate.” Miller v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P., 726 F.3d 717, 726 (5th Cir.2013) (quoting Kansa Reins. Co. v. Cong. Mortg. Corp. of Tex., 20 F.3d 1362, 1366 (5th Cir.1994) ); see also 5B Charles Alan Wright et al., Federal Practice and Procedure § 1357 (3d ed.) (providing that dismissal is proper when the allegations of the complaint are “essentially self-defeating” due to the existence of “a built-in defense”). A court may consider matters of public record in deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion. Cinel v. Connick, 15 F.3d 1338, 1343 n. 6 (5th Cir.1994) (citation omitted).

B. Analysis

Both Parker's claim and Leaf River's defense hinge on the terms of section 45–955. The statute provides as follows:

(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, 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.

(2) A private employer may prohibit an employee from transporting or storing a firearm in a vehicle in a parking lot, parking garage, or other parking area the employer provides for employees to which access is restricted or limited through the use of a gate, security station or other means of restricting or limiting general public access onto the property.

(3) This section shall not apply to vehicles owned or leased by an employer and used by the employee in the course of his business.

(4) This section does not authorize a person to transport or store a firearm on any premises where the possession of a firearm is prohibited by state or federal law.

(5) A public or private employer shall not be liable in a civil action for damages resulting from or arising out of an occurrence involving the transportation, storage, possession or use of a firearm covered by this section.

Miss.Code Ann. § 45–9–55. The Court has identified only one case referencing this statute. See Swindol v. Aurora Flight Scis. Corp., No. 1:13cv237, 2014 WL 4914089 (N.D.Miss. Sept. 30, 2014). In Swindol, the plaintiff alleged that the defendant wrongfully terminated his employment after a firearm was found in his vehicle on company property. 2014 WL 4914089, at *1. The plaintiff relied upon article 3, section 12 of the Mississippi Constitution¹ and section 45–9–55 in arguing that the district court should recognize an exception to Mississippi's well-established employment-at-will doctrine when an employee is terminated for having a firearm in a locked vehicle on his employer's property. Id. at *3. Judge Aycock rejected this argument. “[I]n the face of Mississippi's longstanding reluctance to expand its existing public policy exceptions, the Court cannot say that the Mississippi Supreme Court would recognize a third exception to the doctrine of at-will employment as proposed here.” Id. at *4. Judge Aycock also noted that section 45–9–55 “does not provide for a private right of action....” Id. at *4 n. 3. Section 45–9–55's immunity provision, subsection (5), was not specifically discussed in Swindol.

The Court must apply Mississippi's rules of statutory construction in considering the effect of section 45–9–55 to this action. See Truong v. Bank of Am., N.A., 717 F.3d 377, 387 (5th Cir.2013) (applying Louisiana's rules); McNeil v. Time Ins. Co., 205 F.3d 179, 183 (5th Cir.2000) (approaching the construction of a Texas statute “as a Texas court would”) (citation omitted). The Mississippi Supreme Court has issued the following guidance for a court examining statutory law:

This Court does not “decide what a statute should provide, but [ ] determine[s] what it does provide.” Lawson v. Honeywell Intern., Inc., 75 So.3d 1024, 1027 (Miss.2011). “The Court's goal is to give effect to the intent of the Legislature.” Id. To determine that intent, this Court looks first to the language of the statute. Id. “If the words of a statute are clear and unambiguous, the Court applies the plain meaning of the statute and refrains from using principles of statutory construction.” Id. Furthermore, words and phrases contained in a statute are to be given their common and ordinary meaning. Id. at 1028.

Palermo v. LifeLink Found., Inc., 152 So.3d 1099, 1105 (¶ 13) (Miss.2014). The Mississippi Supreme Court often looks to standard and legal dictionaries in determining the common or popular meaning of statutory terms. See Lawson, 75 So.3d at 1028 (¶ 9) (citing cases). In construing a state statute in the absence of explicit state-court guidance, a district court is “to predict state law, not to create or modify it.” Truong, 717 F.3d at 381 (quoting Coe v. Chesapeake Exploration, L.L.C., 695 F.3d 311, 316 (5th Cir.2012) ).

Parker's Complaint against Leaf River clearly falls under the purview of section 45–9–55(5). Parker seeks damages exceeding $75,000.00 from Leaf River, a limited liability company, based on its termination of his employment. (See Compl. [1] at pp. 1, 2, 5.) Thus, this is “a civil action for damages” against a “private employer”. Miss.Code Ann. § 45–9–55(5). Parker claims that he was terminated the day after Leaf River found a handgun in his vehicle in an employee parking area and that this termination violated § 45–9–55. (See Compl. [1] at ¶ 10, 14–23.) Consequently, this is also an action “arising out of an occurrence involving the transportation, storage, [or] possession ... of a firearm covered by this section.” Miss.Code Ann. § 45–9–55(5). The Court notes that the terms “arising out of” and “occurrence” are not defined under section 45–9–55. However, the plain and ordinary meanings of these terms are sufficiently expansive to operate in the confines of this dispute. In considering a separate statutory provision, the Mississippi Supreme Court has described the terms “arising out of” as “broadly-construed words of causation” simply calling “for some causal connection” or “rational connection”. Big “2” Engine Rebuilders v. Freeman, 379 So.2d 888, 890–91 (Miss.1980) (construing Miss.Code Ann. § 71–3–3(b) ). An “occurrence” is “something that takes...