Tennessee Hospital Tells Smokers: You Can't Work Here

[MoeJoe39]

Tennessee Hospital Bans New Employees From Off-The-Job Smoking - ABC News

Random nicotine tests...........something is very wrong when our freedoms are being taken away like this!

[Silence]

wow... makes me sad and it sounds like its time for a discrimination suit.... someone needs to send a message that we will not stand for our civil rights to be floundered like this. Unfortunately Tennessee is a right to hire right to fire state. so chances are that it will not happen in TN.

[tims]

Why so shocked, obama said, we will taxes tobacco to death.

[MorbidMetal]

This makes me sick!

[Chefdeuce]

This has been a long time coming, hopefully someone will stand up for our freedoms!

[Moriah]

I'm guessing Tennessee is a "right to work" state which pretty much means "right to fire" state....

IMHO what you do off the job shouldn't matter.

If it's about health insurance premiums, perhaps charge smokers who fail the random nicotine tests more of the percentage of their premiums? I could see that, I pay more for my group term life insurance through work as an admitted smoker.

But firing them? Give me a break. Now that i know that, though, I hope to heck I never get stranded in Chatenooga (sp?) and need to go to the ER, because I don't want to give them any of my business!

[TropicalBob]

This is very old news for Floridians. This kind of thing has been around for years and a discrimination case went through the courts. It was decided flatly in favor of the employer. There is no right to smoke and remain employed. No right to vape at all. An employer, aside from the government, puts you on and keeps you on a payroll at its whim.

Check old threads and you'll find hundreds of similar posts on this topic. Each time the no smoking ban hits some individual, a new thread goes up. That's not a bad thing .. but this is not a new concern.

[yvilla]

There is no right to smoke and remain employed. No right to vape at all. An employer, aside from the government, puts you on and keeps you on a payroll at its whim.

This is, of course, true - unless you live in one of the numerous states (something over half, but not including Florida) that actually do have legislation that protects people from hiring discrimination on the basis of off-premises smoking/nicotine use.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/for...tml#post962800

[smokinridge]

All I can say is...this is just so .......ing WRONG!!!!
What ever happened to our rights and our freedom?! This makes me really mad!!!!!

[rfun6]

what rights and freedoms? Didn't you realize that they are slowing being taken away from you, with laws that are for your protection and benefit? They have laws, for laws.