Universal employee sues over lost job involving gun

A former worker is suing Universal Orlando, claiming he was illegally fired for having a gun in his car.

Dean Kumanchik, a ride technician, filed the lawsuit in Orlando on Thursday.

Kumanchik says he regularly kept a firearm in a car at work. He says Universal officials fired him after someone broke into his car and stole the gun.

The lawsuit says Universal officials claim Kumanchik had violated workplace policies. Universal spokesman Tom Schroder said Thursday that the company doesn't comment on pending litigation. He didn't return a later email seeking clarification about what the company's policies are regarding guns.

Florida law says employees have the right to keep arms in their car at work, with the exception of schools and prisons.

[Ed. note: why would any of us want to patronize a company who violates state laws, made to protect the rights of employees and visitors?]
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Theme parks have argued they are exempt since they run programs for schoolchildren.

Kumanchik feels he was victimized twice. He said his gun was stolen from a Universal garage, and said it was stolen a second time when he was let go.

"And when I showed them the Florida Statute, it didn't even phase them," Kumanchik said.

Kumanchik is fighting one of the world's largest entertainment companies. He was a top technician, responsible for ride safety and operation at Universal Studios, when he was fired.

"I was very upset. And I thought after giving them my dedication as a valued employee, as they tell you in my reviews, they just dump you," Kumanchik said.

He said on Dec. 16 he parked his vehicle in one of the garages, used for workers and visitors. Kumanchik said to the best of his knowledge, he left his gun as usual in between the seat and console up front, and then got out like he normally does, and closed the doors, thinking that he had locked them. But the door was ajar when he returned. The police report shows that his Diamondback .380-caliber handgun was stolen.

After 23 years of maintaining popular rides, Kumanchik was fired by Universal for violating the policy banning firearms on property, a property that Universal argues, begins at the garage.

"My interpretation of that policy would be that if I take my ID badge and go through the security gate and they swipe it, now I consider myself on company property," Kumanchik said.

WESH 2 News asked Kumanchik if he ever did that with his firearms.

"No. Not once," he said.

In his lawsuit, Kumanchik said he was "illegally terminated" because he's a "licensed concealed weapons holder."

"This is a fight that we are willing to take up as a fundamental issue for people who legally possess firearms," said Kumanchik's attorney, Richard Celler.

Florida law allows schools to ban guns, and since Universal has an education component on property, it may argue no one has the legal right to bring firearms onto its premises.

WESH 2 News requested a copy of the Universal Orlando "workplace policies" regarding firearms. A Universal Orlando spokesman provided the following statement in response to the request: "We do not allow people to carry weapons into our theme parks or work areas."

For more information about this story, see http://www.wesh.com/news/universal-employee-sues-over-lost-job-involving... and also see http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-universal-employee-gu...