-Caveat Lector-
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INTERESTING QUOTE: "...the Florida Supreme Court upheld the
rule. The
court said the lower insurance costs outweighed the privacy issue."
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Source: Palm Beach Post
http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/epaper/editions/saturday/new
s_2.h
tml
Boca may stub out smokers
By Monika Gonzalez, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 9, 1999
BOCA RATON -- Marlboro men need not apply.
The city is aiming to ban the hiring of smokers for all jobs, and new
employees caught smoking on or off duty would be fired.
The anti-smoking rule -- already in effect for about 700 city
employees
through union contracts for police, firefighters and blue-collar
workers -- is expanded to all 1,100-odd employees in revamped
personnel policies to be reviewed by city council members Tuesday.
Smoking is already off-limits in Boca Raton government buildings and
one city park, but the new rule would extend into an employee's home
and entire life. Workers already on the payroll may continue to smoke
on their free
time. As may council members: Mayor Carol Hanson is a longtime smoker,
and at least two other council members smoke occasionally.
Officials are proposing the citywide ban because fewer smokers means
lower health insurance premiums for all employees. While such a
measure is not
common among municipal governments, it is practiced in several cities
including Coral Gables, North Miami and Clinton, Iowa.
The American Civil Liberties Union contested the no-more-smokers rule
in North Miami as a violation of state privacy laws, but the Florida
Supreme Court upheld the rule. The court said the lower insurance
costs outweighed the privacy issue.
"The ACLU's position is that it's improper for the government to
punish
people for a perfectly legal activity conducted in the privacy of
their own home," said Andy Kayton, legal director of the ACLU of
Florida. "Where does the line get drawn when you're talking about
legal activities?"
Jackie Miller of St. Petersburg, president of Florida's Smokers'
Rights
Association, agreed: "I don't think it has any bearing on how a person
does their job. It's an outrageous idea."
Kayton said the policy opens the door to ban people who have consumed
alcohol, are overweight, had unprotected sex or even ate red meat in
the
last year. Although it may sound farfetched, newspaper reports show
one city -- Athens, Ga., contemplated banning applicants with high
cholesterol.
Boca Raton police officer and union President Rick Barnett said the
no-smokers policy is for the best in the long run, but it does limit
the
pool of applicants.
Boca Raton lost a good police officer because of the ban, Barnett
said.
An
experienced officer left the department to work at a private business
and later returned to town and reapplied. But because he had smoked a
cigar at a function, he wasn't eligible because he had not been
smoke-free for a year.
The expanded rule to be considered Tuesday doesn't say how long new
hires must be smoke-free.
"We would love to see a number of places become smoke-free because it
would protect people from . . . second-hand smoke," said Sonja
Bradwell, a program specialist with the state Department of Health
office. But she said the hiring policy seems drastic. "To me, it
sounds like it could be a case of discrimination."
Boca Raton Councilwomen Wanda Thayer and Susan Whelchel said Friday
they support the idea.
"It's probably a prudent step," Whelchel said. "Does that make
smokers
happy? Probably not. It's like saying I can't hire you if you don't
type. Then don't apply."
Staff researchers Dorothy Shea and Nicole Puccinelli Ortega
contributed
to
this report.
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This country needs more unemployed politicians.
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