Tobacco Use Makes You a Corporate Leper

Employees that smoke or use tobacco products typically have caved into corporate desires to not smoke or use on the job.  The boundaries of what is allowed keeps being pushed. Instead of finding a quiet place by the loading dock or in some cases taking a walk or drive around the block to smoke.  Now you’re being told just don’t smoke… Anywhere!

With employers looking to cut costs on every front the natural selection once again was to target smokers (who have become the scapegoat for all budget fixes in the 21st century).

Claiming that tobacco use is a large factor in high insurance premiums companies are testing employees for nicotine use.  Leading that charge naturally are health systems like St. Luke’s Hospital and Health Network, Memorial Health Systems, and Scotts Miracle Grow Corporation.

Legality of Nicotine Testing

Looking around nearly every case in which an employee or group of employees protested nicotine testing the employer was ruled to be allowed to stipulate employment based on being free of nicotine.

A famous landmark case regarding nicotine use was for the Scotts company.  Where an employee was caught by a supervisor on his on time with a pack of cigarettes on his dashboard of his car.  He was fired from his job and lost in court.

The Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA does not deem nicotine addiction to be a disability it is not protected by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

So if you are unemployed and looking for a job, not only should you not be using illicit drugs but you should also not be using nicotine products.