Legal Issues - Workplace smoking increases an employer’s potential legal liability. Nonsmoking employees have received settlements in cases based on their exposure to secondhand smoke. For example, a waiter in Sausalito received an $85,000 settlement in a workers’ compensation case. Other nonsmokers have won unemployment compensation and disability benefits. (Sweda, E.L. Summary of Legal Cases Regarding Smoking in the Workplace and Other Places. Boston: Tobacco Control Resource Center, December 1997)
- Workers’ compensation laws vary somewhat from state to state. However, it is well established in most states that workers may receive benefits from injuries caused by workplace smoking exposure. (Schober v. Mountain Bell, 1980; Thorensen v. US Air, 1989; Kufahl v. Wisconsin Bell, 1990)
- An example of a worker’s compensation award is the case of Avatar Uhbi. Uhbi, an otherwise healthy, vegetarian nonsmoker, suffered a heart attack. It was determined his heart attack was caused by passive smoking exposure while working as a waiter in a restaurant that permitted smoking. Uhbi was awarded $85,ooo in medical expenses associated with his secondhand smoke induced illness (Uhbi v. State Compensation Insurance Fund, 1990)
- To sensitive nonsmokers, a cloud of smoke may pose as great a barrier to use of a facility as a physical barrier.
- As the issue of health protection has risen, the claims of “smoker’s rights” have been challenged. It has been determined in US courts that the right to smoke does not fall under any constitutionally protected activities. Indeed, the use of a substance that produces a health hazard is not a rights issue; it is a health issue. As of yet, no court actions have supported “smoker’s rights;” however, many suits filed by nonsmokers have been successful, while other suits are currently making their way through the legal system.
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