2008 Woodie Awards
No laughing matter: everyday ignorance
Donald Woodard
Issue date: 12/16/05 Section: Opinions
I was listening to the radio today and heard that a company named Weyco in Michigan has recently fired four employees for being smokers. Is it me or is this is it that this about the biggest injustice that I have seen since Sho-Nuff destroyed Daddy Green's Pizza in the movie "The Last Dragon."
The health assessment firm out of Michigan fired Cara Stiffler and three other employees due to smoking. No, they did not get fired for smoking on company property or even leaving work during work hours to smoke but simply because they smoke. The company cited growing health costs as the reason.
I also learned that that company and several other companies across the country, like Union Pacific Railroad, have actually stopped hiring smokers due to the reasons cited above.
Now I know I am sympathetic to this cause due to my being a smoker, but this really does not sit well with me. A company being able to fire a worker for smoking?!
Now, don't get me wrong. I know that smoking is a lifestyle and a choice, but there are many lifestyles that people live that cause great health concerns. So why hasn't there been companies trying to fire those for other unhealthy lifestyles?
For those who believe that this is fair I raise these questions to you:
If you believe this is fair, do you also believe that it would be all right to fire someone because of his or her weight? Obesity is the number one cause of health problems in America today.
Do you believe it would be acceptable to fire someone depending on their level of sexual activity and promiscuity?
Well if you do, then you are a real jerk who I would not leave a cat around alone in fear that something wrong would happen involving you; the cat and the peanut butter.
What makes it even more dastardlier is that the Weyco Company also drug-tested employees for tobacco use.
We are not able to fire workers who will have health problems attributed to obesity or even question someone who may have obtained some sort of illness or disability from a lifestyle that he or she has lived, so why are we able to fire smokers?
