Free Essays, Term Papers, Research Papers at Anti Essays

"We Do Not Hire Smokers": May Employers
Discriminate Against Smokers?
Daniel M. Warner 1
Smoking employees are less healthy than nonsmokers, are absent more, make more
and more expensive claims for health and disability benefits, and endanger co-workers
who breathe smoky air. Employers may establish smoke-free workplaces, but--beyond
that employers may absolutely discriminate against smokers. Absent some
common-law or statutory prohibition, employers are free to hire whomever they wish.
The Americans with Disability Act prohibits discrimination against "disabled"
applicants or employees, but smokers are not "disabled," nor "regarded as" being
disabled. Moreover, statutory construction does not lead to the conchtsion that smokers
are "disabled." Since the policy of government is to discourage smoking, and
discrimination against smokers promotes nonsmokin~ such discrimination is not only
not illegal, it is good social policy.
KEY WORDS: cigarette smoking; employment discrimination; smokers; smoking in the workplace.
WHY DISCRIMINATE AGAINST SMOKERS?
Employers might well want to limit or prohibit employee smoking and discriminate
against smoking employees in hiring: Smoking is very unhealthy, smokers
are less productive and cost their employers more than nonsmokers, and nonsmokers
incur health hazards from second-hand smoke (breathed by nonsmokers as they
inhale smoke-ridden air). In fact, antismoking is a new American workplace trend.
Nationally, over 70% of all employers have some kind of policy limiting smoking
(Worksite lnsight, 1991). Seventy one percent of employer-respondents surveyed in
a 1990 study indicated that they have implemented restrictions on smoking, and
over 15% of all employers nationally designate the worksite as completely smoke
free (Benson, 1990). This article examines...