Posted on 01/25/2005 8:59:47 AM PST by WestVirginiaRebel
LANSING, Mich.-Four employees of a health care company have been fired for refusing to take a test to determine whether they smoke cigarettes.
Weyco Inc., a health benefits administrator based in Okemos, Mich., adopted a policy Jan. 1 that allows employees to be fired if they smoke, even if the smoking happens after business hours at home.
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
It is a simple gas analysis (blow test) that measures exhaled CO gas that only a smoker or a person with a bad furnace would have.:-)
This is rich.
When are the CALOIRE tests for Hooters waitresses, or "bad breath" tests for bank tellers, or "Big Mac" tests for McDonalds employees.
What about "Mexican Food" test for people in the service industry who don't wish their employees to take the chance of being 'gassy'?
They can always resolve this another way, drop health care completely, or raise employee contributions as soon as you make a claim. Opps, they already do this too.
The solution of course does depend on whether the company has any problem hiring and retaining good employees. I would suspect that a better solution would have been to have smokers pay a higher rate out of pocket, but I guess they can do what they want.
They were fired for refusing to test for smoking.
An important distinction, IMO.
Frog legs'll be ready in a while ! Ya'll want salt on em too ?
Illnesses like AIDS are protected by the ADA. Voluntary activities, such as smoking, are not.
It's a company that would be brought before the courts if it fired an obese employee. Is that okay with you?
Depends on the state. There is no federal law protecting fat people. Most states allow you to fire someone for being fat, too.
24HR Fitness will fire you if you gain too much weight. Happened here in Houston anyway.
a 15 minute cigarette?
They were fired for refusing to test for smoking.
An important distinction, IMO.
Not really in this case, as a positive test for smoking would have resulted in firing. They were gone either way.
Private companies ought to be able to do this with any sort of liability.
For that matter, I believe sexual orientation ought to be allowed to be discriminated against, along with political party preference and virtually any other criteria one could desire.
Why should the NAACP be required to have 60+ percent of their employees be white simply because whites make up a large amount of the population? Why should a church be required to hire homosexuals or pedophiles when they find that repulsive? If religion and race allow for discrimination, why not everything else that an employer might find undesirable?
Liberals love allowing people to make a "choice." Why not extend that to employers?
Do you really believe anyone's healthcare costs are going to go down?
I believe obesity is now protected by the ADA actually.
Why do I get the impression that the potential drop in health claims is going to be offset by a rise in costs in the legal department? Sometimes in life you gotta ask "(1) What am I trying to accomplish, and (2) does this action help me accomplish it?" Unless the answer to question one is "Get a whole lot of publicity and place the company in the eye of a national controversy" then the answer to question two is "No."
Nothing wrong when on their property, but when on your own time off company property? If the Constitution "allows" you to abort a baby becuase of your right to privacy, it should certainly allow you to smoke a legal product on your own time off corporate property. Right?
I did have a hooters waitress once tell me that they're not allowed to eat the buffalo wings. Too fattening.
Obesity isn't protected per se, but if you have a disease arising from obesity, that can be covered by the ADA.
If you're just a big fatass, the ADA does not protect you.
True, both are equally difficult.
Can a company require sterilization to prevent added healthcare costs to cover new pregnancies?
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