Where There Is Fire, There Is Smoke: Issues Involving Smokers and Those Exposed to Smoke in the Wor

In the future, employers might need to consider smoking when making decisions about their employees. If there’s a lawsuit over firing someone, smoking could be one of the things they look at. The concept of anecdotal anarchy means that there are a lot of conflicting laws and rules in the workplace, which can create chaos. For example, if someone gets fired for missing a lot of work, they might claim it’s because of their race. And if a manager says someone is not doing a good job, they might get sued for age discrimination. There are also issues with smoking in the workplace, where smokers and non-smokers both argue for their rights. Overall, there are a lot of legal issues in the workplace that can be pretty messy. Two recent decisions said the FDA can’t control how the tobacco industry operates and the EPA can’t regulate secondhand smoke. In a court case about tobacco regulations, the Fourth Circuit decided that the FDA’s approach to regulating tobacco was not allowed by law, so they invalidated the FDA’s rules. The dissenting opinion disagreed, saying that the FDA has the authority to regulate tobacco because it causes many deaths each year. In a separate case, a federal district court invalidated the EPA’s rules on restricting secondhand smoke, saying that the EPA did not follow the right procedures. The court did not rule on whether the EPA had the authority to regulate indoor air quality. There have been court cases about whether smoking is a disability, but so far, smoking has not been considered a disability under the law. The Department of Justice says that the Americans With Disabilities Act does not require businesses to let people smoke in the workplace. In Florida, there is a law to protect public places from tobacco smoke. There have been some cases where people have tried to use unemployment benefits to quit their job because of smoking issues at work. It’s unlikely that there will be a federal law about smoking in the workplace anytime soon. The employer can try to get new laws to help with the problems, team up with others to fight against the issues, or talk with employees individually to fix things and avoid legal trouble. In the workplace, employers should handle smoking issues on an individual basis. They should work to resolve problems and avoid legal disputes. The tobacco industry’s funding for health care may create more smoking problems at work. It’s important for employers to address these issues to create a healthier work environment. Joseph Z. Fleming is a lawyer at a big law firm in Miami, and José I. León is also a lawyer at the same firm. They both studied law at different schools and now work in the Labor and Employment Law Section. This information is from a column submitted by the chair of that section.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/where-there-is-fire-there-is-smoke-issues-involving-smokers-and-those-exposed-to-smoke-in-the-wor/