labor-law
Employee stopping me from entering my own building
<p>What can I do if an employee or group of employees (like security guards), employed by me, stop me from entering my own building?</p>

<p>They don't let me enter my own building.</p>

<p>Lets say I own a company that makes videogames and I have security guards at the doors. They suddenly stop me from entering the building saying another employee of mine ordered them, and I told them they are fired and they just laugh at me and don't let me enter my building.</p>

<p>Can I call the police; can the police do something about it? Do I have to prove I own that company?</p>

<p>I'm in Mexico but I'm pretty sure laws are similar in both countries.</p>

<p>There are numerous practical solutions, such as calling their supervisor, or calling the employee of yours who set up this arrangement, or providing some kind of proof that you are the ultimate boss. From a legal perspective, (1) the guards are acting as your agents which gives them some authority to exclude people but (2) you can revoke that authority. There are many things that security guards can do to keep people out, and some of them would be technically illegal (others would be blatantly illegal and we can skip that). I'll cite <a href="http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9A">Washington state criminal law</a>, and you can probably find analogs in Mexican law.</p>

<p>First, are they on your property? If you revoke permission to be in the property, that is trespass:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(9A.52.070: Criminal trespass in the first degree.)</p>
  
  <p>(1) A person is guilty of criminal trespass in the first degree if he
  or she knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in a building.</p>
  
  <p>(9A.52.080 Criminal trespass in the second degree.)</p>
  
  <p>(1) A person is guilty of criminal trespass in the second degree if he
  or she knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in or upon premises of
  another under circumstances not constituting criminal trespass in the
  first degree.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>How are they stopping you? If they are physically stopping you, that is assault (battery), the severity of which depends in the degree of force:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(9A.36.031: Assault in the third degree)</p>
  
  <p>(1) A person is guilty of assault in the third degree if he or she,
  under circumstances not amounting to assault in the first or second
  degree:</p>
  
  <p>(d) With criminal negligence, causes bodily harm to another person by
  means of a weapon or other instrument or thing likely to produce
  bodily harm; or (f) With criminal negligence, causes bodily harm
  accompanied by substantial pain that extends for a period sufficient
  to cause considerable suffering; or</p>
  
  <p>(9A.36.041: Assault in the fourth degree)</p>
  
  <p>(1) A person is guilty of assault in the fourth degree if, under
  circumstances not amounting to assault in the first, second, or third
  degree, or custodial assault, he or she assaults another.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Another possibility is 9A.40.040 Unlawful imprisonment:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(1) A person is guilty of unlawful imprisonment if he or she knowingly
  restrains another person.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>They don't have to actually use force, they can simply threaten to do so, which is</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>9A.36.070: Coercion.</p>
  
  <p>(1) A person is guilty of coercion if by use of a threat he or she
  compels or induces a person to engage in conduct which the latter has
  a legal right to abstain from, or to abstain from conduct which he or
  she has a legal right to engage in.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Though the police are supposed to enforce the law, they may decline to act if it us not clear to them that there is a violation of the law. It would not really help to prove that you own the company, because nobody really knows the relationship between the company and the building – maybe you own the company, someone else owns the building, and you've been legally evicted. So looking for a legal solution isn't the most productive use of your time. Instead, make sure you can contact the guard supervisors, company colleagues in charge of security, and carry your ID badge with you.</p>

<p>Let us suppose that the guard company, guards, and your security chief are conspiring to rob you. The long-term and slow solution is to get a court order plus sue the pants of everybody who has done you wrong. The crux of the matter for the police would be, who owns the building (what evidence do you have that you own the building). I could actually show the police proof that I own my house. If the crooked security chief shows up with a document saying that <em>he</em> owns the building, you'd be stuck. But otherwise, establishing ownership of the building should cause them to stop the guards from blocking you. Unless the cops are part of the conspiracy. There's nothing you can do to absolutely protect yourself against a well-planned conspiracy (they make movies based on that).</p>

<p>You have security for a reason. That is to prevent unauthorised persons from entering the building.</p>

<p>It would be unreasonable to fire someone for preventing you, an apparently unauthorised person, from entering the building, because that is exactly their job.</p>

<p>This can apply even if the guards knew you personally, depending on the authorisation protocol in place. For example, if you informed your secretary that from tomorrow onwards, only people who present a staff badge may be permitted to enter, and you do not present a staff badge, then the guard is absolutely correct to deny your entry - ownership or not.</p>

<p>Depending on the situation, a good solution might be to simply stop paying them. They'll have to eat and pay their rent and once it's clear they aren't getting wages standing around in your lobby, they'll start looking for other jobs.</p>

<p>Also, in some jurisdictions you can just have the police throw them out. Where I live the rule is that you have to point out where the door is three times. If they aren't leaving by then, the police will not just forcefully remove them, but also arrest them for trespass. But the law is different everywhere.</p>

<p>If we rule out the possibility of honest identity mistake (that is if you are sure they know you own the property), and we rule out the fact that their action does not constitute a legal protest (employees sometimes have the right to peaceful protest with regard to labour laws then we are left with legal technicalities. If they have permitted access to the property, which had not been revoked as at the time they committed the said act, you can't hold them in trespass. However, if their presence on the property which by the way is legal,  amounts to any form of disturbance then we are looking at nuisance. If they resort to violence or unconscionable physical contact then we are looking at assault/battery. It all depends on the facts, all what has been said is mere legal hypothesis.</p>

<p>Another scenario that would be perfectly reasonable for a guard to keep you out would be if the building as a whole required a certain level of government security clearance.  Not all employees of a company have a security clearance.  For many companies that work on government projects (such as military suppliers), I would guess that there are definitely secure secret areas that even the president, owner, board of directors, etc. would not be given access to carte blanche.  The security guards/system would rightly use any force and methods necessary to protect these secret work areas.  </p>
