Mass. smoker sues over firing

Boston.com ^ | Wednesday, November 29, 2006 | Sacha Pfeiffer

[hoosierham]

I always thought Scott's products were over-priced,now I have another reason to avoid them.

Employers ought not regulate worker's legal activities off the job.

[TheLion]

"Employers ought not regulate worker's legal activities off the job."

You nailed it!

[mdmathis6]

The weight issue may come under the American Disabilities Act in some issues....some over-weight issues are genetic despite one's best efforts to maintain a proper weight.

It will be interesting to watch that one tested in court!

[mdmathis6]

"Player Piano."
Many companies are also using a Gallup derived 200 question "pesonality" test to pre-weed out "undesirable" candidates before they can even be interviewed.

Kurt Vonnegut was somewhat prophetic!

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

How long do you suppose they stay in business, considering the reduced labor pool (there's only so many skinny people) and the poor public relations (Drudge headlines)?

The ironic thing is that this will back fire big time.

Being fat is not a protected class however being obese is. So let the eggnog and gravy flow. Just pack on as little as ten pounds and by golly you just moved into the protected class.

And last time I ran the numbers the obese have higher health care costs then either smokers or the overweight.

[JoeGar]

... non-smokers and other healthy people have to pay higher insurance premiums at work for people like Rodrigues who smoke, or who eat like pigs are therefore weigh 400 pounds.

Workers also pay higher insurance premiums for other lifestyle choices such as unmarried women getting pregnant or homosexuals getting AIDS.

[BlackbirdSST]

Dumb lawsuit. There is no such thing as a right to smoke.

Sure there is. Show me where a Citizen is denied the right to smoke in the Constitution and I'll show you the 9th Amd. Besides, tobacco is a LEGAL product. Blackbird.

[BlackbirdSST]

Employers own the business. But they only RENT the employees.

...and, they only rent the employee for a time that they are willing to pay. Maybe NCLaw can point US to the Corporation Bill of Rights. I know of those that extend to the Citizens, but I appear to be too stupid to find the one for Corporations. I've been looking! Blackbird.

[BlackbirdSST]

It's not a contract. It's employment-at-will. If I don't like you because you wear green, you're fired. If I don't like you because you cheer for the Denver Broncos, you're fired. It doesn't matter if I make that decision before you're hired, a week after you're hired, or ten years after you're hired. It's my company and my money. There's nothing you can do about it as long as being a green-wearing fan of the Denver Bronco's isn't a protected status.

Yep, the world is full of A**holes. No changing that I guess. Of course, being an A**hole isn't illegal, yet. Blackbird.

[capitalist229]

Condition of employment? That's what contracts are about.

The law overrides any contract.

BUMP

[dhuffman@awod.com]

Sorry, which one is that? Equal Employment Opportunity, Affirmative Action, which?

Either we are equal or we are not. Good people ought to be armed where they will, with wits and guns. NRA KMA

[NCLaw441]

Congratulations! You are not as stupid as you thought. There is no Corporation Bill of Rights. There is also no right to employment contained in the Bill of Rights for citizens.

[NCLaw441]

No one is arguing that this is a good policy (as far as I have seen) on the part of the employer. It is a quetion of whether the owners of a company can decide who to hire and who not to hire. The reasons may be stupid, but oompanies make stupid decisions (and some go out of business because of it) all the time.

If the question were whether an employee should be allowed to quit a job for a stupid reason, such as because his boss smokes at home, almost no one would say that the employee should be forced to continue to work for that employer.

I will tell you this. If I owned a company, and I only wanted to hire people who could properly throw a frisbee, you can be sure I would do it.

The same people who say that bar owners should be allowed to control their property and allow smoking (which I agree with, despite being a non-smoker) take the opposite position when an employer doesn't support smokers. Pretty transparent.

[William Terrell]

You describe what used to be true, before technical work and manufacturing began to locate offshore, which more are doing so.

In certain service industries like medical fields you are right, but such is vanishing as we speak, and seen the market will be flooded there.

There are people right now that are afraid to lose their jobs because the labor market is flooded, hence the lower wages. I have heard employers acknowledge that there are more to draw from that they need.

If you lose your job in most industries that pay top dollar, you will not find another. The labor statistics sourced by the federal government are lying to you. Period. The low employment rate factors those who have tried to start a businesses after they lost their jobs, and the illegal aliens flooding our labor market now.

Very few people can open their own business, for obvious reasons.

You are living in the past. What industry do you work in? And do you seriously believe that employers have the moral and actual authority to order and demand changes in a person's personal life that saves them money?

[highimpact]

You describe what used to be true, before technical work and manufacturing began to locate offshore, which more are doing so.

It's always somebody else's fault, huh?

In certain service industries like medical fields you are right, but such is vanishing as we speak, and seen the market will be flooded there.

And yet somehow, life continues. I've transitioned from one industry to another, and from one specialty to another, based on where I saw the best opportunity. I recommend you read the book, "Who Moved My Cheeze."

There are people right now that are afraid to lose their jobs because the labor market is flooded, hence the lower wages. I have heard employers acknowledge that there are more to draw from that they need.

The labor market is not flooded. I'm living on the front line of that issue on a daily basis. If you have skills that are in demand, then you can find a good-paying job. If you have no skills, outdated skills, or skills with little value, then you need to improve your skills. Don't blame the employers.

If you lose your job in most industries that pay top dollar, you will not find another. The labor statistics sourced by the federal government are lying to you. Period. The low employment rate factors those who have tried to start a businesses after they lost their jobs, and the illegal aliens flooding our labor market now.

If you're going to make something up, at least season it a little bit to make it palatable. Misery loves company, and you're quite the victim of society.

Very few people can open their own business, for obvious reasons.

Because very few people are willing to take the risk. There are no other reasons. America is the land of opportunity, not the land of "guaranteed jobs for everybody." If you want a guaranteed job, move to Cuba.

My wife and I both came from ordinary backgrounds. We paid our our own way through college, while working full time to support two kids. After graduating with Bachelor's Degrees, we went to work in "corporate America." I was layed-off after two years (due to cheaper labor in China.) Did I cry and tell everybody how unfair it was? No, I found a different job the next day. Two years later, when the bottom fell out of that industry, I decided I'd had enough, and opened my own business, which my wife and I run together.

You are living in the past. What industry do you work in? And do you seriously believe that employers have the moral and actual authority to order and demand changes in a person's personal life that saves them money?

Wrong. I'm living in the present, and living for the future. I am a creator of jobs. What have you done for America? I'm not going to tell you what my business does. I will tell you that I have hired over 200 people who make an average of over $60K/year. Those jobs didn't exist before I took the risk to open my own business. And yes, as long as it's my money, I'm going to make the rules for my business. Until you start paying people your money to work for you, then you have to follow their rules. Got it? No? Okay, you're fired.

[bigdcaldavis]

"Homo herbivorus"? Is that a fancy way of saying "gay vegan"? :)

[magslinger]

LOL, I meant human vegetarians, but feel free to take any way you like.