Nobody hates the smell of secondhand smoke more than I. Seriously. Perhaps it's rude, but whenever assaulted with the scent of a cig, I conspicuously waft my hand in front of my nose as if my entire face were just doused in gasoline and lit on fire. And don't even think about holding my baby if you smell like an ashtray. Well, you can think about it. But it's not gonna happen. I don't want her within a 50-mile radius of that shit. But, vehement stance against smoking and its disgusting aroma aside, I don't think someone should be fired for smelling like smoke.
Stephanie Cannon has smoked almost a pack of Camel Menthols a day for the past 18 years. She got a job as a receptionist, ironically, at the Frauenshuh Cancer Center in Minnesota. Before starting, she learned that it was hospital protocol to not smoke anywhere on the premises, a rule by which she obliged. But six weeks into her stint, she was told by her boss, "We don't want you smelling like smoke when you come here." Okay. Pretty understandable. It is a hospital after all.
But then, she was fired.
Cannon says that she went above and beyond to avoid smelling like smoke. She stopped smoking on her lunch breaks, avoided doing it in her car, kept her work clothes sealed in a plastic bag and sprayed them with air freshener before going in. But still, nothing. According to Cannon, eventually, she was told to "avoid her husband in the morning" because he too is a smoker. And when that didn't work, she got the boot.
Now. According to Minnesota law, you can't be fired for doing something that's not illegal on your own time, like smoking -- which would make Cannon's termination against the law, right? Well, maybe. See, under this same law, employers actually have the right to restrict the use of legal products like tobacco if they feel it's creating an job-related hazard. So, yeah.
Being that this is a free country and all, I really am not for firing someone for doing something perfectly legal, no matter how gross it is, on their own free time. But, on the other hand, the second part of that law sort of does make Cannon's firing legal. So then I guess my question is: If it is legal to fire someone for smoking in Minnesota (if it's hazardous), and the hospital didn't want an employee who smelled like smoke, why hire Cannon in the first place? And moreover, if the job was so important to Cannon, why not just try quitting?
What do you think of this?
Image via Fried Dough/Flickr
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Comments 65
Cancer patients shouldn't have to be subjected to her smoke smell and even 3rd hand smoke. I can't stand it when people use perfume or smell like smoke at work. I know some people who smoke in a way that they don't smell at all at work. I work in a hospital, the patients come first.
coming from a family of smokers it is hard to keep the smoke smell from your clotheing but i do not believe that she should have been fired for smelling of smoke. i mean if she was caught smoking repeatedly on the premises or deliberately disobeying the rules and regulations of the hospital at which she worked. Of course i am from the south and alot of people do some sort of tobacco product so i am quite used to the smell of all kinds of tobacco from the smoke of cigarettes and cigars to the smell of a fresh can of copenhagen snuff and a fresh pouch of red man chewing tobacco.
THIS story is funny, except for the part where the lady got fired. I am a smoker and over the years have worked with people who came to work hungover and reeking of alcohol daily, those with rotting teeth and bad breath, even one with a serious case of B.O. that would stink up the entire office!!
As for the begining of this story and how much the writer loathes smoking, she is not alone in her responses to smokers. Guess what, reactions like hers only cause people like me to find the chink in her armour and have at it!!