SMOKE - AND FIRED

TheNewYorkPost ^ | 2 October 2002 | DAVID SEIFMAN

[SheLion]

A top Housing Authority official has smoked himself out of an $80,000-a-year job.

After consulting with the mayor's office, Housing chairman Tino Hernandez yesterday ordered the immediate firing of Robert Swinton, the deputy director of the Office of Facility Planning, one of five employees spotted by a Post reporter last week in extended smoking sessions outside the agency's headquarters at 250 Broadway.

[SheLion]

Now go home and increase your risk of cancer.

[Mo1]

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[SheLion]

... apparently you've never knocked an ash off in your lap. I had a couple of pretty close calls back in the good old days of my 3-pack habit. ;o)

[Gabz]

As far as I know this is a conservative Forum and always has been. Or at least for as long as I've been here.

[NYCVirago]

I know what you mean about the Post.......BUT! BloomingIdiot is going to FIRE the one man AND discipline the others! In this case, the POST is just reporting it..............

Yeah, but it was the Post's report (timing smokers' breaks) that got these workers in trouble in the first place. Of all the things going on in the city, it's pretty bad to go after people whose only crime was smoking!

[SheLion]

Thanks, Gabz. I feel SO much better. Here is what that person said to me:

To: SheLion

FreeRepublic is not a place where people march lockstep to a political party. Our highest loyalty is to the US Constitution and the principles of grassroots conservatism. When the Republicans abandon those principles, we let them know. Regardless of who holds the title "Republican".

But if you want to march lockstep to a party, no matter how they vote, then the DU forum is for you.

18 posted on 10/4/02 10:52 AM Eastern by fogarty

I STILL haven't heard from the ADMIN MOD. 

[SheLion]

Yeah, but it was the Post's report (timing smokers' breaks) that got these workers in trouble in the first place. Of all the things going on in the city, it's pretty bad to go after people whose only crime was smoking!

The crime rate in NYC is horrific! And DRUG dealers! And this is the best they can DO???????

[hosepipe]

Yeah! like that get anything done when back at their desks.
When gov't workers reach 40% of the population we're done for. Its almost that now, I think.

[SheLion]

Yeah! like that get anything done when back at their desks.

Well......I was a DOD employee and I was a hard worker. My husband has worked for a Government Finance Agency for 6 years, and he works HIS tail off. In fact, he is lead agent. And he smokes. He takes 20 cigarettes with him and comes back home at the end of the day with 16 left.

[hosepipe]

"Governments have killed many more people than cigarettes or unbuckled seat belts ever have." -P.J. O'Rourke

[Ravaged Nation]

I know of a postal worker who had a beer during her lunch break and was fired.

If someone drank while on the job, I'm sure he/she would be fired if caught.

[patriciaruth]

I recommend The Comforter.

Are we talking pacifier or blanket here

The Comforter is also known as The Paraclete, The Holy Ghost, and The Holy Spirit.

[patriciaruth]

Looks like you are either talking from experience or you are working for the Pharma's

I'm a physician.

[ccmay]

I STILL haven't heard from the ADMIN MOD. 

Don't hold your breath. He probably considers you a tattle-tale. The post you objected to is well within the bounds of normal discourse on this board.

-ccm

[SheLion]

Don't hold your breath. He probably considers you a tattle-tale. The post you objected to is well within the bounds of normal discourse on this board.

This is between Fogerty and myself! I guess you, too, do not believe this is a Republican Forum?

Well, I wrote an email to Jim Robinson asking him just what this forum IS, for your information!

Gabz has been registered even longer then I have, and she even said that this is a Republic Forum, so I don't know why your sticking your nose into this.

It just seems that are stalking every thread I post just so you can come in and flame me. Your not a very nice person.

[Flyer]

And everyone else in this office are busy little bees except for their 2 fifteen minute breaks.

Yeah, right.

---

[SheLion]

Yeah, right.

LOL! Does standing around the coffee machine and the box of donuts count?

[SheLion]

Smoking man's son sends bitter letter to Bloomberg   Source: AP, 2002-10-24

Intro: The 16-year-old son of a city employee recently fired for taking excessively long cigarette breaks has sent a bitter letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, saying that his mother cries constantly while his father is battling depression.

"Thank you for ruining my life," Robert Swinton, Jr., wrote in a letter reprinted in the New York Post in its Thursday editions. "Thank you for ruining his reputation. Thank you for leaving him dysfunctional. Thank you for making my mom cry every day."

EDITORIAL: GET A GRIP, MIKE  

Source: New York Post, 2002-10-24

Intro: As the letter points out, the elder Swinton apparently didn't exceed the legitimate daily time off a city worker is permitted (a total of 90 minutes, covering lunch and coffee breaks): The real reason that Swinton was fired was because he was caught - by a Post photographer - smoking.

In the brave new Bloomberg world, there apparently is no greater sin.

Indeed, it is becoming increasingly clear that the mayor's anti-smoking campaign is rooted in a disturbing obsession. . .

Bodegas - as successful small businesses - send a signal to a community about hard work, entrepreneurship and attaining the American Dream.

If they go out of business, the general quality of life in those neighborhoods will seriously suffer - to say nothing of the impact on overall city tax revenue. . .

Mayor Bloomberg needs to understand that his obsession is out of control.

He needs to remember what he once understood as a businessman: Oppressive city regulations can choke businesses and undermine the economy.

And then he needs to reinstate Bob Swinton - who broke no rules, and who most certainly committed no crime.

NY Tobacco News

[BureaucratusMaximus]

FreeRepublic is not a place where people march lockstep to a political party. Our highest loyalty is to the US Constitution and the principles of grassroots conservatism. When the Republicans abandon those principles, we let them know. Regardless of who holds the title "Republican".

What is wrong with this statement that it would require "intervention" by the mods??

[BureaucratusMaximus]

This is between Fogerty and myself! I guess you, too, do not believe this is a Republican Forum?

If this is a Republican forum...then we should all be praising Bloomberg (an (R) BTW) for his wonderful statist obsession to eliminate cigarette smoking from NYC no?