Please answer this question from the perspective of business law, you might refe
ID: 2759864 • Letter: P
Question
Please answer this question from the perspective of business law, you might refer codes or rules if needed:
David’s employer has a smoke-free employment policy. This is not just a ban on smoking during work hours at the employer’s place of business, but instead prohibits tobacco use of any kind anywhere. David has invited a number of co-workers and supervisors to a family picnic at his home on a Sunday afternoon. At the picnic, his supervisor observes David smoking. On Monday morning, the supervisor advises David that he is being terminated for violation of the company policy. Will David succeed in a claim of discrimination against his employer?
Explanation / Answer
This depends on the state where David is working.
The twenty-nine states listed and the District of Columbia have “smoker protection laws” which make it illegal to discriminate against an employee for the use of "lawful products outside the workplace," (understood to refer to cigarettes) or for smoking in particular. In these states, you cannot be fired for legally using tobacco.
However, many states do not have these laws, so employers are free to fire smokers, even if their tobacco use is solely outside the workplace. As with hiring, employers may terminate employment due to an employee’s smoking habit, if smoking infringes on a valid job requirement.
OSHA, short for the Occupational Safety and Health Act, gives you, as an employee, the right to have a safe and hazard-free workplace. OSHA does have indoor air quality standards, but tobacco smoke almost never exceeds theses limits. In rare and extreme circumstances -- for example, when tobacco smoke combines with another airborne contaminant in the workplace -- the OSHA standards may be exceeded and OSHA will require the employer to remedy the situation. In general, exposure to tobacco smoke will be regulated solely by state laws, not OSHA or other federal laws.