Tenn. hospital testing for nicotine

[maureengill]

That is just ridiculous....next thing you know they are going to pick other groups to legally discriminate against...so do they not hire overweight people, or people that skydive, or skiers, motorcycle riders, or anyone who does something high risk? Next thing you know they won't let you drive to work because it's too dangerous...you might die and they might have to pay out on your life insurance...

Idiots...they really shouldn't be able to get away with this...

Maureen

 

[Raven1]

What if you live with a heavy smoker, bu thave never smoked yourself?
Would you get nic in your urine from 2nd hand absorbtion? I don't know btw - I'm asking from a curiosity standpoint.
If ths IS possible where would you stand as far as being an employee at this hospital? Would they be able to prove it wasn't you? (ie, doing a blood test, which idk if that would work if you're absorbing nic from your heavily smoking partner) Would they refuse to believe it wasn't you and fire you anyway?
Would they/could they make a rule that you could not both be an employee AND have a partner who smoked heavily?
You see where I'm going with this hopefully..

Yes, I can see potential lawsuits over this and rightly so. Just because there's nicotine in your system doesn't necessarily mean you're a smoker.

 

[mojofunk]

No amount of money would be sufficient to get me to take a job in which my civil liberties are violated by a needle or some other invasion of my privacy. We do still have free will. For the moment. There are jobs available where this is not done.

 

[HexKrak]

Most hospitals are privately owned companies, in which case the government would have nothing to do with it. It's just more anti-smoking hysteria among tthe general public.

This ^^

And yes, I do hope they get legally lambasted, or they fire the chief after he's exposed to a group smoking cigars while celebrating a child's birth.

 

[sherid]

It wasn't a workaround I was thinking of - more actual case scenario if you really DIDN'T smoke but your partner resembled a chimney on fire. SO, its NOT possible to absorb enough nic into the non-smoker, then to have it test in urine is what youre saying if I understand correctly.
That's almost a shame becuase I would be interested to see what would happen, vis a vis, could they 'suggest' you have relationships with soley non smoking partners or terminate your employment, under their rules because you were.
The implications were quite frightening - and I hope they are just thoughts from my head and never soemthing that would actually occur.

There are a few companies who will not provide insurance to employees who live with a smoker.

 

[Tanizaki]

This ^^

And yes, I do hope they get legally lambasted, or they fire the chief after he's exposed to a group smoking cigars while celebrating a child's birth.

While I am only licensed to practice law in Florida, Tennessee, like most American states, is at-will employment. That means an employer can fire employees for most* any reason such as if they use nicotine, have sideburns, a name that starts with "M", or just because the boss is in a bad mood. This cuts both ways; the employee gets to quit for any reason.

So, there is little likelihood of any legal lambasting.

*of course, firing/hiring based on race, sex, and a few other factors is unlawful under federal civil rights statutes

 

[geeker]

I have a medical condition for which nicotine may be prescribed. It's called ulcerative colitis. Many people have attained remission using nicotine. Apparently, I do not get enough nic from vaping to keep my condition at bay. There is another leafy plant which also alleviates symptoms. Haven't tried that one. If these things are medically prescribed, I'd say there are grounds for legal action re: discrimination.

 

[OMB]

The guy from ChemLawn is probably in more serious danger from the chemicals he uses/mixes than nicotine!! (Shaking head)...IDIOTS!

 

[avedon]

absolutely ridiculous

 

[pm2006]

Big brother run amok... Welcome to the New World Order.

I think the Vapor King XL will be my next PV. I'm just waiting for the 401 to 901 adapter to get to the suppliers so I don't have to spend all the money on the cartos. Do you really like it? How long does the battery last? The battery life is the reason that I want one.

 

[Dmass]

Wait till Government controlled health care gets passed.....

 

[Ringo®]

Isn't exclusive to Tenn. anymore. My wife is applying for nursing jobs in Ga. and they've adopted this policy as well.

 

[jamesd1628]

I live in Chattanooga, where this idiocy is occurring (Erlanger, I believe). I actually have several in-laws (outlaws in my opinion) that work there. None of them smoke or vape, so I guess they're safe.

 

[HexKrak]

They're not safe unless they also avoid walking past a smoker, eating too many tomatoes or eggplant, or any of a number of other ways to achieve enough nic exposure to show up in a simple test. By my estimates looking at the people around me, only one of which smokes, and I'm the only vapeer, at least 1/2 of them would test positive from exposure or diet, it's very possible that it's 100%.