Would You Fire Someone for Smoking?
January 25th, 2012 | by Elizabeth Weedon |
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A police officer of 17 years was fired for repeatedly smoking cigarettes inside the precinct, a violation of a no-smoking policy.
Harold Dunivant, the chief of police in the west Tennessee city of Newbern, fired Sgt. James Bishop last week for repeatedly smoking indoors. Since 2007, the city has prohibited smoking inside all municipal offices and buildings.
Bishop’s termination letter—obtained by the Dyersburg State Gazette—states the no-smoking policy, and reminds Bishop that city employees were informed of the policy in 2007 through a memo. Dunivant also advised all police that smoking was prohibited, he said in the letter, and there were other reminders over the years.
In the fall of 2011, Dunivant again received complaints of police smoking in the department, he said. He reminded employees of the policy and warned that disciplinary action would be taken against staff in violation of it.
According to the letter, Bishop apparently asked Dunivant to point out the boundary of the no-smoking area, and was told it was the threshold of the exterior doors of the department. Smoking anywhere in the interior—in other words, inside the department—would be in violation. But still Bishop continued to smoke inside.
“Under the circumstances, I am forced to conclude that your continued violation of both the no-smoking policy, and my several warnings and admonitions, constitutes willful and intentional work-related misconduct under the city’s personnel policy and state law, which justify the termination of your employment,” Dunivant wrote.
In December, three paramedics in Volusia County, Fla., were fired for smoking. Starting in 2010, only nonsmokers were hired for the job, but those hired before the policy took effect were grandfathered in.”I was terminated for something I do at home and is perfectly legal,” Mike Stone, who had worked as a paramedic for 5 1/2 years, told the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Said Henry Roverano, 59, another paramedic who was fired: ”I think it’s a little unfair. I know I broke the rules, but I think I should be given a second chance.”
Roverano had quit smoking on Sept. 6, but had given in to temptation at the end of November, when he started going through family problems. He smoked about 20 cigarettes in a two-week period, but has since quit again.
Tags: Fire, Fire Smoking