Only Non-Smokers Need Apply At Baylor

September 22, 2011 5:19 PM

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DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) – Currently there are some 14 million jobless Americans. And if you’re one of the thousands of North Texans looking for work, the competition is tough.

Now, a new hiring limitation by one employer could make the job search even harder.

The Baylor Health Care System has decided that if you use tobacco, in any form, you won’t get a job with them.

“I don’t like it,” said Cassie Grooms. “I don’t think it’s fair.”

Smokers like Grooms were quick to condemn Baylor’s new policy that basically conveys: if you use nicotine, there’s no need to apply.

“We all have the right to smoke a cigarette,” Grooms said in disagreement. “I can understand not [smoking] on their property, but to not hire somebody for smoking…”

Baylor officials claim smoking has a lot to do with the high cost of health care. The FDA estimates smoking costs American employers some $200 billion a year in lost productivity and increased medical costs.

“It’s about how we continue to deal with the rising health care costs,” said Baylor CEO Joel Allison. “It’s about how do we really focus on the new model of health care around prevention and well, and how do we keep people healthy. And I think that’s very, very important for us as a city, a state and a nation.”

Smoking was banned at all Baylor campuses four years ago. But, can they legally refuse to hire smokers?

“Absolutely they can,” said Dallas employment attorney Thomas Brandt. “People think well, that’s discriminatory, but really there are only certain factors that you cannot consider when making hiring decisions.”

Things like race, gender, ethnicity or national origin cannot be considered when hiring an employee.

If increased medical costs are a consideration for banning employee tobacco use, then ponder this: obesity is also a national health crisis. According to the CDC obesity costs employers some $147 billion a year.

http://dallasforme.com/2011/09/only-non-smokers-need-apply-at-baylor/ Only Non-Smokers Need Apply At Baylor — Me and the Chicks

[...] Care System has decided that if you use tobacco, in any form, you won’t get a job with them. More from: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/0… [...]
http://fortworthinsight.com/news/only-non-smokers-need-apply-at-baylor/ Only Non-Smokers Need Apply At Baylor « Fort Worth News Feeds

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ol coot

i guess i wont be going there for my medical needs anymore ….

Zazou Burson

Oh be quiet all or you and eat your peas!
harry balz

HIV is pretty expensive to treat. No Gays please.

lost bozo

Right on! Let em rot! and anybody else who’s basically done themselves in, smokers, gays, druggies, fatties, anorectics, couch potatoes, wounded gang bangers, bikers who don’t wear helmets, adrenalin addicts who get hurt, skate boarders, people who don’t wear seat belts, people who talk on cell phones or text while they drive…wait I just put myslef in the mix…arrrgghhh
Freeland Dave

So is breast cancer so apparently we shouldn’t hire women. And if you go to that extreme why not extend it to men for prostate cancer. Anyone with a prostate need not apply..

Oh but it can be even dumber than that. Like that tanning booth? They shouldn’t hire you because they can cause skin cancer. How about the suspected cancers caused by cellular telephones. No cell phone usage, EVER!

It can go on and on so where do we want to stop?

And if we do it purely on financial reasons, more people die in car accidents than cancer so I suppose if you own or ride in a car they shouldn’t hire you either.

It’s nothing more that political correctness going out of control as they align with the plans of Obama care and news flash, Baylor is not the only place doing such things.

True, they don’t owe anyone a job but then too no one is required to give them their business either. In short, if you don’t like what they are doing you can take your business elsewhere and seek employment elsewhere. If this causes Baylor loss of revenue they will change their minds. It’s not about health and welfare of people, it’s all about money.

Oh BTW, I don’t smoke and I don’t drink.
Mike Notsaying

attention all employees we are no longer hiring these groups due to health concerns: obese, smokers, drinkers, pot users, the elderly , the young, the un vaccinated, the gay for fear of std, women because they have less blood than men which means less white blood cells, anyone against the establishment in any way {we will cross reference your Facebook etc, people with asthma, people with immunodeficiency’s, cancer patients , nursing or pregnant mothers … so any slaves left that want to apply give a dna sample blood test urine test submit for rectal exam and additional vaccines to get your application

FuC U TyRaNtS i hope you enjoy the hell you are partisipating in creating BOYCOTT THIS COMPANY!!!!!!! VOTE WITH YOUR MONEY
Mary

I guess Obama won’t be applying for a job.
johnboy

Harry, I totally agree with you, but watch your step as it’s racist to talk about gays, but lock out smokers. I wonder if this outfit knows how much money is spent on the wonderful gays and their Evil HIV? Now O’Dumbo has even ruined the Military.
dabu

It’s a slippery slope. What wont they deny?

Overweight, no job!
Drink alcohol, no job!
Don’t eat a low fat diet, no job!
Don’t walk 20 miles a week, no job!
Eat donuts on Sunday, no job!
Ride a motorcycle, no job!

Obviously this isn’t legal, but who cares all lawyers are impotent in a court of law anyway!
katok

No Fatties who might get diabetes, no Pregos who want 6 weeks paid vacation, no parking lot because cars cause pollution which cause cancer. Discriminate agianst all or you are just being discriminatory
Mike Notsaying

know what our grandfathers did to tyrants? they left them dead on normandy beach
fitbrmom

You don’t have to be gay to contract HIV or an STD. I keep seeing people posting here in reference to gays on that topic. About 1/4 of our adult HETERO population is walking around with some form of an STD, and that just counts the ones who KNOW they have it. Just sayin’.

A. Levy

Do they also target people who drink alcohol, use drugs, eat “the wrong” foods, etc.? This is not a medical decision, it’s a politically-motivated one. If you don’t comply with the “laws” of political correctness, you can work for them.

Well, here’s a word for those people in Texas who believe they’re still in a free country. BOYCOTT!!

Jack Russell

Lame, A. Levy. Baylor didn’t say this was a medical decision. Its a FINANCIAL decision. Baylor is a BUSINESS. Businesses get to make financial decisions. They don’t OWE anyone a job and if they decide that they want to hire obese alcoholics but not smokers, that’s THEIR CHOICE IN WHATS LEFT OF A FREE SOCIETY. Political correctness has nothing to do with deciding a particular behavior causes employees to cost more than you want to provide in benefits. Why don’t you THINK THINGS THROUGH before you show your ignorance?
zorkli1c

Agree. Alcohol costs society more than smoking does when you consider the crime it causes along with the other social and medical problems. But alcohol is socially acceptable–almost required–so costs be damned.
Watson

People don’t take Drinking breaks and they don’t pour their second hand booze down someones throats.
hiway280z

and who says a person that does not smoke is healthy ? I know many who smoke, rarely miss work and are healthy. If that is their motive who else should they not hire ? drunks, drug addicts, people who don’t eat the Michelle Obama menu, eat sugar, take risks in sports or just crossing a street, bad drivers.It is political. fine pay smokers disability and let em stay home and enjoy life while your workers pay them. Have you seen the new stupid ad ? a baby carriage outsidewith smoke around it and the baby choaking, in an elevator alone chocking any where they show it the poor baby is choaking as the cloud of smoke out side goesin the carriage. LOL
kettlecorn

I’m betting that for everyone who boycotts this company, there will be another that starts using them just for the fact that they won’t have some nurse or other health care worker working on then that smells like they just came out of some smokey bar smelling like an ashtray.
Jack

They have removed the toilets at Baylor because eliminating toxic waste from one’s body exposes others to second hand s___t and all that.
gobnait

@Watson: and yet if an alcoholic manages to get himself hired and then goes on a binge, he can’t be fired because he’s classified as ‘disabled’ and entitled to treatment at his boss’ expense.
D. Osburn

Smoking is a choice. It was not stated that they could not perform their job duties, but that collectivly, smoking costs billions more in health costs than non smokers. Maybe they hire the smokers, adjust what their out of pocket monthly cost will be to be covered it the Baylor health care plan. Discrimination? No, prudent business practice.
MichaeL Locke

Boycott them? Right, they are the LARGEST , heathcare system in Texas dedicated to Heart & vascular health. They have over 16,000 employees & over 27 different hospitals . Grow up people the world is changing. You can drive a green car use non incanedscent lightbulbs. Demand the GOVERNMENT be your everything, & then smoke . get sick & DEMAND the very hospital you want to boycott have their employees be smoke free.

Dale C Scott

Hey, Baylor —– GOOD FOR YOU ! Far too many think that they can do whatever they please without consequences. Sure, the lady has a right to smoke. You have a right not to hire someone who is a greater risk of having health problems. More institutions should consider potential “at risk” individuals when hiring. It may be unpopular with many, but alcohol use and obesity may well be considereations added to the job interview process in the immediate future. Legislated better health. A new frontier in our society.

hiway280z

marxist control of the people..ah should they not hire gays as they have a highrisk of aids. Maybe part of the physical before hiring should be check all relatives to see if there is cancer in the family history.
Dee Smith

there is nothing new under the sun. Ecc. 1:9 If you think that this concept is new, you are sadly mistaken. And to legislate “better health” is a micron away from slavery.
Mary

If tobacco was really bad for humans, the federal government would out-law growing it.
rangerrebew

I don’t think they should hire anyone who drives a car as they MAY be killed in an accident. The truth is none of us comes out of this life alive; we have a 100 percent mortality rate. Given the mortality rate for smokers is exactly the same as nonsmokers this sounds like liberal profiling or discrimination based on life style. Personally, I’m not a smoker and don’t care if people want to speed their demise. But business and government have no business in this area.
ewrte

nope – you can’t let the gov. tell you who you can hire or who you can rent to if you’re going to let them restrict you in any way. She doesn’t have a right to smoke but the gov. doesn’t have a right to tell you you have to hire her either.

While you’re at it look nto Susan B Khomen and soem of these other “women’s” cancer organizations and see hwo much of their money they give directly to Planned Parenthood! Follow the money! Did you think when you were giving your buck to curign cancer part fo ti was goig n tot he organization that champions aborting babies? Gee why does it have ot be women’s cancer? More men die of prostate cancer – how aboyut we just attack cancer (another thing like alternatives to oil that unfortunately is too lucrative to ever actually solve but it makes for great limp wristed milktoast Lefty Dem speeches)

sueinmi

Good luck going anywhere else as well. Medicare/Medicaid has said that reimbursement will be refused to hospitals that do not comply with non-smoking on property facilities (most of their clients have M/M). We’ve been told here in MI that even if our clothes smell like smoke there may be diciplinary action. I’m not a smoker but this is clearly the over reach of the federal government. Carrots are dangled with the understanding that it’s going to be done their way regardless of individual freedom and rights. Welcome to Obamacare!
hiway280z

Obama won’t get hired there. He smokes and Michelle said he quit but some in the white house said he still smokes. So when we throw him out in 2012 he may as well not go there for a job. LOL Oh he wouldn’t anyway we will be supporting him the rest of his life and he has never worked a real job in his life.
teai is stronger

THEY HIRE GAYS AND GAYS SPREAD AIDS

AIDS is very expensive to treat illness with rising health care costs means Gays should not be hired. Lets go to POT smokers.
Rio Sam

Well, I guess that means when Obama gets put out of a job in 2012 he won’t be able to apply to this company for a job…LOL LOL LOL
david

Our company started doing this over 20 years ago. We helped people quit and it was a great envirnoment.

jhf

to quote the first bi tch “all that for a flag”

mark

Non-smokers are actually more costly to our healthcare system according to new study, more here:

http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-study-logically-proves-non-smokers.html
Freedom 1st

You’ll go where obama tells you to go.
Freedom 1st

You’ll go where obama tells you to go!
Doris Carman

Make sense. If it is your company you should be able to only hire who you want. If only presidents could not smoke we wouldnt have this creep in office,
Doris Carman

Good thing there are other hospitalsfor you. Aside from the health insurance aspect, people dont realize how offensive the odor from smokers is.
Walter LeCroy

Smoking kils 400k smokers and 40k non-smokers per hear. Insurance companes know that nicotine addicts are impaired drivers. Irresponsible people should not be hired; that includes the obese.

mike

I wont be going to baylor! Whats next? Not hiring those that drink soda or take other unhealthy food/drink choices? I will die before I use baylor for anything.

Toby

I guess this means dope smokers too…
Sharon

That will be next…wait and see.
NWH

good deal. Mike’s down. That’s 1. So is ol coot above…that’s 2. Just a few hundred more and Baylor’s golden.
Andrew

They have right not to hire. You have right not to use their product.

sfdgfdg

exactly – but the Left is afraid no one will support them in their retar ded schemes so they legislate it. That’s also whyt he Left fights th efree market so much – if they dont; get their shythooks into it and corrupt it and it works then no one will have any use for them. If they stimy it then they can point ta it and say see it doesn’t work let’s irrationally cause even more damage regulations… It’ll end eventually because they can only choke the goose so long…

Jucky

They have the right to limit who they hire, but if they are going to say that it is because of insurance issues, they need to not hire fat people either!

steamdwarf

good point and probably next in line to cut health costs – just the beginning of fallout from obamacare monstrosity that pelosi said didn’t need to be read by anyone

Dwarftosser

Yeah, right. Health care costs have risen faster than inflation for at least the last 10-12 years, and you want to blame Obama? Does he have a time machine in this fantasy-land that you live in?

tayloralexander

their choice not yours
mary

Personally, the extreme, anti-smoking activist’s obnoxious behavior makes me sick. Let’s not hire control freaks like them , and we’ll all breath easier.

Dave

Mary, I am tired of breathiung the cigarette smoke of others when I go out in public. Smokers who congregate around the entry or exit of any building force you to walk through their noxious cloud, to get in or out. Outdoor events are also a big one. Just because the event is outside, why do think you can smoke around people? Smoking in public is not a right, as so many seem to think.
dankajell

@Dave

That’s a pretty lame ass comment!! The states I have worked and lived in have “no smoking in front of entrances laws” They varied in the amount of feet between each state also, I can’t speak for every state out there, Also not every smoker is an inconsiderate a$$hole. I personally stand out in the middle of the parking lot or make it a point to get away from everyone that doesn’t smoke because I don’t need to hear any whining. But then again I’ll always have the self righteous jerk that feels the need to purposely walk by me and cough or wave there hand in the air and give me a dirty look. I’m sick of those people and you sound like one also!!!

Its My Company

In my company we don’t hire either. Fat people don’t have the energy to work for me and smokers are addicts and can’t follow the no-smoking at the job rule we tried to impose.

Dewey

And those that don’t agree can boycot your business.
SMOKER

ie; it is my company……Ponder this……… I OWN my own business, i SMOKE….I OWN THE BUILDING I RUN MY BUSINESS IN….YET I CAN NOT SMOKE IN MY OWN BUILDING ,,,IN MY OWN BUSINESS….THAT IS OUTRAGE…..AND I HAVE RUN THIS BUSINESS TEN YEARS,PRIOR TO THAT I WORKED FOR A PRIVATE COMPANY AND MISSED 3 DAYS EACH YEAR IN SICK DAYS AND SINCE WORKING FOR MYSELF HAVE MISSED NOT ONE …I SMOKE 2 PACKS A DAY I AM 50 YEARS OLD…I NEVER MISSED WORK DUE TO SMOKING..ANOTHER MYTH…I FEEL I PAY OVER 2.50 DOLLARS PER PACK THAT IS 5.00 DOLARS A DAY IN TAXES…SO THE GOVERNMENT MAY TELL ME I CAN NOT SMOKE IN MY OWN PLACE OF BUSINESS AND FURTHER PROPAGANDA ABOUT SMOKERS MISSING MORE WORK THAN NON SMOKERS….THIS IS A LIE THAT SMOKERS MISS MORE DAYS…….DISCRIMINATION,TAXED WITH OUT REPRESENTATION…….IT IS TIME FOR SMOKERS TO FIGHT BACK…I PAY 35.00 DOLLARS A WEEK TO THE GOVERNMENT TO BE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST AND FALSELY ACCUSED OF MISSING WORK……WAIT TILL THEY COME FOR YOUR TWINKEES
SMOKER

I ALSO WOULD LIKE TO STATE AS A BOSS/OWNER MY EXPERIENCE IS SMOKERS ARE MORE PRODUCTIVE AND FOCUSSED ON THEIR WORK THAN POLITICALLY CORRECT ,DO GOODER NON-SMOKERS……I HAVE MUCH PROOF IN MY HEALTH INSURANCE CLAIMS /MD VISITS THAT STATE YOUR IDEA OF SMOKERS BEING UNHEALTHY AND COSTLY AS FALSE…IN TRUTH ALL MY EMPLOYEES ON PROZAC,ANTI ANXIETY MEDS ,ARE MORE COSTLY ,TO ME THAN ANY SMOKER I HAVE MORE EMPLOYEES MISS WORK DUE TO MENTAL ISSUES THAT COST THE BUSINESS GREATLY …EASY TO ATTACK THE SMOKER IN OUR POLITICALLY CORRECT,DO GOODER WORLD… QUITE….FRANKLY I FIND NON SMOKERS TO BE SOME OF THE RUDEST,MOST ARROGANT PEOPLE I KNOW…….AND I AM PROUDLY NOT A DEMOCRAT……I WOULD HIRE A PRODUCTIVE SMOKER OVER A WHINEY POLITICALLY CORRECT DO GOODER ON ANTI ANXIETY MEDS{BECAUSE THEIR LIFE IS SO STRESSFUL} BEFORE I WOULD EVER HIRE A NON SMOKER….I WORK IN INSURANCE AND KNOW THE REAL STATS…THE GOVERNM,ENT SHOULD BOX OUT PEOPLE WITH ANY TYPE OF MENTAL ILLNESS DO HAVE A CLUE OF THE COST OF A SIMPLE ANXIETY DISORDER TO A COMPANY…NEVER MIND A FULL BLOWN DEPRESSED EMPLOYEE..THE COSTS ARE INCREDIBLE….LOOK AROUND WAKE SMELL THE COFFEE..OR ARE COFFEE DRINKERS NEXT TO BE OVER TAXES AND EASILY BULLIED AS ARE SMOKERS…PLEASE
Dave

SMOKER!!
You do not own the oxygen or air that people share to breathe. Your argument is like saying if you were to have a river run through your backyard, it is your right to dump toxic waste into it. Just because the river runs through your property, you do not have the right to polute it. It is a shared resource…
Danielle

Dave, quit driving your car, it is causing me to cough. It is poluting the air much worse than my cigarette.
Dikauff

SMOKER, then you will have no problem with giving me your name and address sot that I can sue you for assault when I get an asthma attack from being around you. You may have the right to destroy your life…you DO NOT have the right to destroy mine.
Beez

Yeah, like anyone would give out their name and address to an obvious stalker.
Its My Company

@SMOKER Thanks. I will add whiny prozac takers to my list. AND YES, IT IS AN OUTRAGE THAT YOU CANNOT SMOKE IN A BUILDING YOU OWN. I STILL DON’T THINK SMOKERS ARE ALL THERE MENTALLY BUT IT SHOULD STILL BE A FREE COUNTRY.
Baylor Butteheads

In my company we don’t hire morons.

Since that seems to be your slippery slope, I’d watch out.
Jo

Smoker –
I am the child of smokers. Both dead early from health problems caused from smoking. You are talking garbage – I worked with smokers at the Red Cross – they took more smoking breaks than the average worker & if you weren’t a smoker the Supervisor was likely to forget that you were even entitled to a break.They took more time off than we non-smokers – with coughs & colds, too. My brother died last year – 50 y/o, dropped dead during an Asthma attack in the hospital parking lot, Smoker – he was told to quit, but couldn’t.
My Fil is 85 he has been dying now for 6 years – 2 pack a day smoker. I’d love to know how much he has cost the NH taxpayers over the last 10 years, millions – I think. My MiL is the same age & very healthy for her age, non- smoker – but he will be the death of her. Dankajell – not every smoker is an inconsiderate jerk – just 99% & they do still smoke outside the entries to buiildings – regardless of laws.
I went to buy a chicken BBQ dinner at a fundraiser last weekend & some guy was serving my food with a cigarette, wit hanging out the side of his mouth, with a half inch of ash hanging off it.

hiway280z

or those to skinny
Spanky

And they need to not hire skinny people, because BOTH fat and skinny people have higher health care costs than average weight people!
dgh

what an 1diot they have a rigth ot hire who they want but you want to force them to do it your way – what an arsewipe – let me guess hypcoritical liberal dou chebag

Clay

Really–How about saying we won’t hire anyone who drinks alcohol or drugs in the medical profession- so many medical personnel are the worst offenders of drinking way to much or do drugs…which would you rather have? A hung over doctor doing surgery or someone who smoked a cigarette doing surgery-hmmm

Meri

Alcohol IS a drug, dear. And tobacco is the worst drug of all. Incidentally, do YOU smoke?

Shaman30

Please explain how tobacco is “the worst drug of all”. What criterion are you using to make that claim?
bitterclinger99

alcohol kills more people than all illicit drugs combined every single year. Please do some research you self-righteous boob.
M

Actually… tobacco is not the worst drug. I have never seen a high school drivers ed class car with students and a teacher in it destroyed by smoking… but I did see one destroyed by a drunk driver… All the students and the teacher died… ofc the drunks didn’t.

Tobacco kills you… Drinking kills others. I’d rather have a doctor cut me open with a smoke in his mouth than one that was just drinking… that way when he’s done I can borrow his smoke. I’ll need it after surgery anyhow.
Kevin Pearson

It has nothing to do with drugs. Anyone that uses tobacco, demonstrates such poor judgment that they would not be useful as employees in the first place.

Freshman level Chemistry.

Carbon monoxide bonds with hemoglobin causing the hemoglobin to be incapable of carrying oxygen to the cells in the body to produce energy, even in environments with plenty of fresh air and oxygen.
These oxygen-deprived cells include the brain cells.
Thus the brain cells are incapable to convert food to energy and so cannot function properly
ALL smoke, including cigarette smoke contains at least small quantities of carbon monoxide.
So smoking a cigarette deprives your brain of oxygen causing you to be unable to think properly causing you to do stupid things, such as smoke another cigarette and vote Democrat.
Brad

Kevin Pearson:

I’m not even going to ask if you work in the medical field. I smoke (although I’m in the process of quitting, I’m a Republican, I have bachelor’s degrees in finance and accounting, an MBA, and am a CPA at one of the Big 4. Gee, I guess all of that smoking has stunted my ability to make intelligent choices decisions, or in the way you portray it, I have made (and do make) stupid decisions. Based on your logic, I could be a theoretical physicist or a neurosurgeon if I hadn’t started smoking. I take it you’re a non-smoker and that’s fine, but don’t use medical logic to feel superior to them. I know plenty of intelligent people (doctors, lawyers, university professors, research economists, do I need to keep going?) who smoke. I’ll tell you what substance leads to bad decisions: alcohol.

I’m not proud that I smoke, but I do, and it’s quite insulting that you take an entire demographic and generalize them as being (and I’m paraphrasing here) stupid. It insults me and, more importantly, it insults anyone else who’s ever smoked, including people more intelligent than you or I. Thank you, have a wonderful day
Mary

I must be dead because I was raised in a house with both parents smoking like chimneys.
Kevin Pearson

Brad, I don’t consider a CPA productive. CPA’s don’t produce anything, all they do is skim a little off the top of people that do. Accountants are the reason that we cannot get a flat tax or get rid of the IRS because then the accountants would lose their livelihoods and they would have to get real jobs where they would actually have to do something constructive other than just piles and piles of paper to justify your existence and salaries.

As a holder of two engineering degrees and an MBA myself, I see calculus as a freshman level course, and as far as I am concerned, anyone that cannot handle freshman level calculus has no business being in college in the first place. That’s why we have so many liberals in this world because too many think that they are “educated” when they cannot even handle the basics.

Go to any college that doesn’t specialize in liberal art degrees and you will find that the only students that you see smoking on campus are foreign students from former Communist countries that have cradle to grave health care. Cigarettes are a gateway drug to socialize medicine.

Forget the hammer and sickle. The international symbol of Communism should be the cigarette.

Zig Sulewski

In responce to Kevin Pearson,—What about the smoke from the wildfires in Texas, the carbon monoxide and other emmisions ifrom vehicles, the polluted air we breath from nature’s environs and the emmisions from coal, desiel, wood, and whatever polutants come from nuclear energy causing allergies that must cost companies billions in lost time and labor????
Boycott these arragant companies. — There’s probably a woman behind these stupid rules and regulations.

old goat

You certainly have the right to boycott them and they have the right to do what they can to hold down costs and keep stinky people from offending their patients.

I understand older people who started smoking before they knew it was murderous to all around them, but anybody under age 55 who smokes is making a downright stupid choice. Do you seriously think only women dislike smoking?
Kevin Pearson

People don’t stick the exhaust pipes and the smokestacks in their faces and inhale the smoke as they do cigarettes. They are deliberately designed to be adequately ventilated and people that have to work near them where masks to protect themselves. Smokers on the other hand, keep right at it.

Cigarettes are a gateway drug to socialized medicine.

SMOKER

Dikauff, Dave,…….first i never invited you into my home where this ACTUAL ASTHMA ATTACK HAS OCCURRED…….NOR DO I FEEL ANY OF US PRACTICAL CITIZENS FEEL IT IS WISE TO CLOG A COURT WITH SUCH FOOLISHNESS….I SEE THE MENTALITY HERE……YOU MISS THE POINT…..CIGARETTES AND SMOKING ARE NOT AGAINST THE LAW…AND SMOKERS ALSO HAVE RIGHTS JUST AS YOU DO…SMOKING BANS ON PRIVATE BUSINESS./HOMES…IS ABSOLUTELY NOT JUSTIFIED……PRIVATELY …OWNED PROPERTY IS JUST THAT PRIVATE………HELLO YOU WERE NOT INVITED OVER….THE COST YOU WOULD INCUR COMING TO MY HOME ,WOULD BE YOUR COST, FOR YOUR SO CALLED ASTHMA ATTACK…YOUR CHOICE TO ENTER MY PRIVATE PROPERTY MEANS YOU BEAR THE BURDEN OF YOUR DECISION ..NOT ME …SO YOUR ABOVE STATEMENT AS DAVE’S COMPARING LEGAL CIGARETTES TO ILLEGAL TOXIC WASTE IS COMICAL…I SEE THE SHEEPLE HAVE BEEN SHAPED BY FORCED SOCIAL NORMS…RATHER THAN IDIVIDUAL PREFERENCE…..PERSONAL LIBERTY IS A GOOD THING…..AND I FULLY FEEL ANY COMPANY CAN HIRE WHO THEY CHOOSE……I WOULD JUST APPRECIATE THE SAME RIGHT….IE.MY BUSINESS I WANT SMOKING….NOBODY IS FORCING YOU TO WORK OR BE A CUSTOMER OF MINE….SO TRY TO THINK ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF MONEY THE GOVERNMENT TAKES IN FROM CIGARETTES ..IN MASSACHUSETTS 2.51 A PACK ADD THAT TO THE AMOUNT OF PACKS A DAY..THAT IS A LOT OF TAX MONEY …NOW GEE WHERE CAN I SMOKE????I NEVER SAID I WANTED TO HANG WITH YOU AND SMOKE NEAR YOU SO YOUR POINT AS DAVE, TOXIC WASTE RIVER GUY IS MOOT….LIBERTY…PERSONAL PROPERTY..HELLO LIKE I SAID .NEXT THEY WILL BE COMING TO TAX YOUR TWINKEES..THEN TELL YOU.. YOU CAN BUY THEM BUT NOT EAT THEM…GET SOME COMMON SENSE..RATHER THEN THREATENING LAW SUITS …IT BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU THE COURTS ARE SO CLOGGED WITH LAWSUITS …I HAPPEN TO BE IN THE INSURANCE BUSINESS AND SMOKING IS NOT A REASON OF HIGH COST IT IS EXACTLY AS YOU SO FOOLISHLY STATED LAWSUITS..LOL…I SPEAK THE TRUTH THE DRUG COMPANIES LOVE PEOPLE LIKE ..YOU ..DID YOU TAKE YOUR ANTI ANXIETY MEDST TODAY…OH AND YES YOU WILL NEED A NEW INHALER BECAUSE A NEW BAN ON INHALERS RECENTLY WENT INTO EFFECT SO ALL THOSE PEOPLE WITH OUT THE NEW GOVERNMENT APPPROVED INHALES ARE BREAKING THE LAW…LOL..I NEVER CLAIMED I INVITED YOU TO MY SMOKE FILLED HOME…SO INTELLIGENT COMMENYS WELCOME….IF A COMPANY DOES NOT WANT TO HIRE ME BECAUSE I SMOKE ..FINE WITH ME….BUT I WANT THE SAME CONSIDERATION IF I RUN A PRIVATE BUSINESS THAT I OWN…I WANT SMOKERS AS WORKERS AND CUSTOMERS…YOU NEED NOT BE MY WORKER OR CUSTOMER….I WOULD LOVE TO GIVE YOU MY ADDRESS…..I SMOKE// MY MOM RECENTLY DIED OF CANCER AND YES BREAST CANCER AND SO FAR THE EVIDENCE IS HEDGING TOWARD THE 1962 PILL CONTRACEPTIVE THAT SHE WAS TAKING ….YOU SEE GENTLMAN ,,,YOU HAVE BEEN SO SHAPED SOCIALLY BY THE MEDIA..YOU DO NOT REALIZE WHAT YOUR OWN GOVERNMENT ALLOWS IN YOUR FOOD,YOUR MAN MADE MEDICATIONS…FULL OF CANCER CAUSING CHEMICALS…TRUST ME SMOKING IS NOT OUR ONLY AND QUITE POSSIBLY NOT EVEN FIRST CULPRIT OF CANCER WAKE UP SMELL THE COFFEE…..AND DO NOT FORGET THE EQUAL…OR OTHER CANCER CAUSING AGENT YOU PUT IN YOUR COFFEE….DO HAVE A CLUE….LEARN ABOUT PRIVATE PROPERTY…OR EQUAL JUSTICE….THE TRUE COST OF HEALTHCARE……OR OTHER TYPES OF INSURANCE..TAKE ME ON BOYS LOVE TO GO AT IT WITH YOU..LOL..IT IS BECUASE OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU…WE ARE NO FREE AND HAVE ZERO LIBERTY…..WHERE IS YOUR TOLERANCE…OR DID THEY NOT TEACH YOU THAT AT DIVERSITY TRAINING……MAYBE YOU SHOULD MOVE TO CHINA…..

Spallink Nodsie

Is your caps lock key broken?
smoker

SPALLINK NODSIE…..i was just hoping some one would notice….BUT OF COURSE YOU NOTICED THE ALL CAPS …NOT THE ISSUE ABOUT RIGHTS,TRUTH,LIBERTY ,IE ESPECIALLY PERSONAL LIBERTY….gosh…maybe if i write in lowercase you might see…….personal liberty,at stake,read the comments focus on subject…..which apparently some people think is actually baylor’s concern for our health…lol……who really believes that……its is about unjust bans on a legal,taxed product….why does the government allow baylor to not hire smokers……yet i can not smoke in my own privately owned business…do i not get the same rights as baylor?????????????maybe i smoke to much.because i learned on this page today from our progressive friends that smokers are lowgrades…ie dumb…ie not smart…so i must have smoked one to many legal cigs.to not know if my caps were locked…or ..i have some kind of carbon monoxide imbalnce…here comes a politically incorrect statement..i was auctually typing loudly…because loosing freedoms,discrimination,and blatant lies makes my caps stick….but gee i wouln’t know cause i am so dumb from smoking……you read all the comments.????..sheeple….does you l key stick?????
dam

Rant much?
Kevin Pearson

I need a sign for my front door that reads

Firearms welcome.
Tobacco products NOT
Xavier

DUDE — maybe switch to decaf??

Clay

Correction: which would you rather have? A hung over doctor doing surgery or someone who smoked a cigarette before surgery-hmmm

C Bauer

Neither?
Joseph Blow

Nice false choice.

Stavros36

Not false at all. If employers can discriminate based on personal habits, then they should stop hiring drinkers. Alcohol is a very big contributor to health care costs. Nah, too many doctors, and administrators like their drinks after work. Now smokers they’re REAL villians.
dgh

you picked up on that typical liberal drivel “either we send millions of dollars of food to rot on the loading docks in Africa or you want kids to starve to death”

IT’s the same false logic that allows Reid to say we are declaring any Republican bills dead on arrival wihtout reading them and then say the Republicans are stone walling. There’s apparentyl enough ret@rded mooches and lefty’s that can’t think for themsleves…

tayloralexander

neither
M

Smoker I explained why just above.

SMOKER

M….explained what??????I have low o2/or is low co2/or low po2/…explained what????my eyesight must be going because i smoke

Jay P

Really? All people that drink do so to the point that they get hung over? Your argument is invalid.
Xavier

Um, yeah. Because it’s one or the other!!

Suzy

Seems to me they’d have to have access to private information to ensure their employees aren’t truly smoking. Either that or randomly testing all their employees for nicotine in their system. Let’s face it, the job market being what it is and people being desperate for jobs, many if not most smokers who needs jobs will lie about their nicotine use. And former smokers currently working at Baylor may fall off the wagon and Baylor would need to fire them should their relapse become know. So, get ready for your employer to have access to all your medical information or random nicotine testing. Oh, and yes, food intake monitoring and exercise minimums will be enforced next since “controlling medical costs” is so much important than a person’s privacy and freedom to make currently legal choices about lifestyle and behavior.

tayloralexander

News Flash………… there is a urine test thatidentifies over 90 items that an employer may use to deny a position that belongs to the employer. NOT the NOT THE APPLICANT

Skinny

And 99% of those substances are not tested. IT costs MONEY to do that. I hope you don’t drink coffee, or eat poppyseed bagels, or use Scope mouthwash..
M. Walton

It’s interesting how you say things like your the only smart person in the room however it seems that you are pretty unintelligent with how you have to say News Flash…. and capitalize things like people can’t figure out the point of your argument.

At my job you can choose to pay a smoking or non-smoking rate. I pay the smoking rate. I was non-smoking and quit when the split happened but I only quit for 3 months… mainly because I love to smoke. So I pay the higher price and that’s fine with me.

Go away troll.
teaj

news flash …………………………………………………………………………………. …………………………………………………………………………………………. um nm

Suzy

Oh, and I thought that it was only government entities I had to worry about invading my privacy and monitoring and attempting to control my behavior. Apparently corporate America is just as interested in asserting power over the little people in an attempt to control behavior. Power corrupts, especially when money is involved.

J

Funny you should mention that, and you know what its funny because alot of us know what really going on. And people think that GI JOE was just a show, the phrase knowing is half the battle is absolutely correct. The governement, and corporate america controlling your action is the tip of the ice berg. The changes are already here, and they will keep coming. Until we are dead.

J

So let me get this straight. Baylor doesn’t want to hire anyone who smokes because its the smokers fault for using tobacco which caused lots of health problems. So now its the our fault that “they” gave us cigarettes to smoke, made money off of us and killed us at the same time. Then a huge company wants to not give us jobs for this. To top it off its a Medical Facility!! For one we probably didn’t know the gravity of the situation when we first started smoking, same as fast food restaurants. You want us to kill ourselves so we come to you for help, only so you can over charge and deprive of us what we need to live so you can live longer and more wealthy. I am so sick and tired of the big boys leading us to our deaths while keeping us in the dark about what matters. We are not only losing our rights, but our health and there is nothing they are going to do to help until we are all DEAD!!

Sorry for the rant but its happening all around us, slowly we are deteriorating while they make more money. We lose jobs while they buy a fancy new car. We are losing our homes when they buy a new condo to satisfy their sick endeavors. What do they say when we ask for help, its your fault you’re in this situation. That is wrong, we are not here to fend for ourselves and leave another to rot but to help one another, and that is very reason why we will fall. The very meaning of the phrase the richer get richer etc is teaching to blame the victims, its not fat black womans fault shes fat, alot of time they’re racist batsards that wont give her job, so all she can afford with the type of money she gets is fast food. Our way of life is disgusting, stop be a product of your environment. Let the environment reflect your actions.

k

” The very meaning of the phrase the richer get richer etc is teaching to blame the victims, its not fat black womans fault shes fat, alot of time they’re racist batsards that wont give her job, so all she can afford with the type of money she gets is fast food.”

Yea. What did people eat before Burger King?

Kevin Pearson

Last I checked Fast food wasn’t all that cheap. You get a much better value at the Deli in WalMart.

walljasper

If you want people to read your post, drop the way-overused and insipid “”So let me get this straight.”

Though you might think it conveys your a sense of incredulity, indignation or that only an idiot won;t see it any other way than yours

but it does;t work. It negates what you have to say. And that is too bad, as I think you might have a point. Just help us get a chance to read that point, without the preface, ok?

Good luck.

Walljasper
Kevin Pearson

Baylor is a private institution. Baptist actually. Trust me Baylor didn’t collect any taxes from you.

bill

Bull, all hospitals public or private get federal subsidies from taxpayers all over the country.

Dont Whine

Poor you! Sorry you were too stupid to figure out what thinking people know. Smoking is bad. You seriously grew up not knowing that?

And Baylor didn’t “give” anyone cigarettes. You might be one of those losers that never went out and made anything of yourself and now blame your problems on those who did. Corporations started out as small businesses created by one or two people with an idea and hard work. How awful for you that they succeeded and grew and now employ hundreds of people in some cases. Maybe it would have been better if they just kept their business ideas to themselves and never did anything except work for someone else.

There’s probably no way you will ever understand this, since you never started a successful company or kicked a bad habit. But do yourself a favor. Stop smoking. Eat cheap foods (like canned tuna or green vegetables) but drop the starchy carbs. You’ll lose weight and be healthy in 4 months time. While you do that, think of something you could do to make money without working for someone else. Something you are OK at and like to do. Then do it. Start small but think constantly of how you could do more, with the goal of replacing your day job.

It makes no difference if you’re black or female or anything else. Think only of success. You can do it. I did and you’re probably much smarter than me.

C Bauer

Anybody else notice that stock photo for this story (on the home page) is of Colin Farrell?
Ronnie Scott

Maybe the wise folks at Baylor finally learned that the 12% of Americans who still smoke suffer the mental illness and brain damaged caused by tobacco addiction.

Like any other business which has stopped hiring smokers, they will save millions in health care and have more productive and successful workers.

Shaman30

Mental illness and brain damaged [sic] caused by tobacco addiction? Please cite some sources.

Joseph Blow

Los Angeles Times, November 22, 2000: “Some studies suggest that certain mental illnesses may be triggered or exacerbated by smoking, perhaps because of its mood-altering potential. For instance, in an article in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. published earlier this month, scientists reported that adolescents and young people who smoked heavily were more likely to develop anxiety disorders later in life.”
Frank Davis

That’s hardly a definitive. Some studies……..might suggest……………hogwash.
Kevin Pearson

Carbon monoxide poisoning … look it up.

Realist

You are surley getting your “info” from either the Government or a comic book my friend. Another one lost I’m afraid. Nothing to see here people. Move on.

utoia

Health pollution bad:( Soul pollution good:)
It’s in the progressive Bible dontcha know.

When the Cleveland Clinic did the same thing in 2007 I started smoking! Totalitarian health zealots will be the death of us all!

Larry Waters

If by tobacco addiction you mean nicotine addiction, I guess you missed the the fact that nicotine is now proven to increase cognitive abilities, reduce stress, and lose weight.
[Web Source: Associated Press (16 September 2011)
http://www.statesman.com/sports/anti-doping-age…-ban-tobacco-1863183

Cigarettes are not the only source of nicotine and it’s not the nicotine which makes cigarettes harmful; it’s the 5-10K toxic substances created when the cigarette is lit.

Swedish snus, for example, is 99% less harmful to a smoker than cigarettes. That makes it as dangerous as grilled meat or a cup of French roast coffee.

The Swedish version of FDA has regulated snus as a food product for over 40 years and removed the requirement for a cancer warning label a few years back…..because Swedish snus has never caused lung, oral, throat, stomach, or lung cancer.

That doesn’t stop the ideologues and intellectually lazy from lumping all tobacco products; lit and smokeless, into one big politically correct pile.

Nicotine despite its health benefits is extremely addictive. People who don’t use any tobacco products should not start now.

Regarding smokers, Swedish/Swedish-style snus is the perfect health and social alternative to cigarettes. It provides enough bio-available nicotine to allow a smoker to quit cigarettes, it’s completely discreet as no spitting is involved, and there is no ‘second hand snus’ to offend others.

In the end, even cigarettes will never be banned. The Federal, State, and Local governments would collapse within 90 days without punitive tobacco tax revenue. Like most things, this is all about the money.

Embracing the legally nicotine addicted and helping encourage the use by smokers of working nicotine alternatives to cigarettes is in the best interests of the Public Health.

Larry Waters

Quoted source URL has changed: New one is http://tinyurl.com/3bwywcw
Sorry for the inconvenience.

m

Try 43% use tobacco

Land’oLakes

“We all have the right to smoke a cigarette”
*******************
Huh? There’s no “right” to smoke. Never has been. Never will be.

Tobacco is addictive, defective and lethal, when USED AS INTENDED. How come we never hear smokers complain about that!

Orkas Eat Seals

Why do you claim there is no right to smoke?
A person may chose to use tobacco products, alcohol or any other legally available product(s). That choice is their freedom.
Frank Davis

It’s called liberty. I have the right to abuse my body anyway I choose.

Double standard much

And the company has the right to not hire you.
Dont Whine

OK go buy a pound of pot and smoke it. Since you have a right. See how far that argument takes you in court.
SMOKER

YEAH FRANK…..i am glad you get it……LIBERTY

Freedom (noun)

Yes, it is called freedom. And if this is not discrimination; then it should be perfectly acceptable to say that a company should be allowed to site higher than average hypertension and heart disease among blacks as a reason to not hire any.
How’d you like them apples?
That is what I thought.

Jack Russell

Stupid comment. Lots of stupid comments on here, but that one is at the top of the heap. Baylor isn’t forced to limit any unhealthy behaviors or groups it doesn’t want to. But, if Baylor sees an economic benefit that justifies not hiring smokers it has every right. Liberal ass idiots that want to limit employers liberties should be escorted to the Land of the Nanny State to live out their days.

Robert Jones

K.. there is no Constitutional Right to smoke, drink, eat or essentially anything other than live in FREEDOM.

Tobacco is addictive as are many other things. People will continue to use them under their definition of freedom. As long as tobacco and other drugs remain legal, there is little anyone can do to change that.

Flyer

Do any of you read? Ever hear of the Bill Of Rights? Life, Liberty, etc…

“Liberty is a Right that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions.” From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fifth Amendment: “nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

Ninth Amendment: declares that the listing of individual rights in the Constitution and Bill of Rights is not meant to be comprehensive; and that the other rights not specifically mentioned are retained by the people.
Newbern W Johnson

Flyer, just where in the Bill of Rights or the Constitution does it say that you are ENTITLED to a job?

gary

A government-sponsored study recently estimated that medical spending for obesity reached $147 billion in 2008, almost doubling in the past decade. It’s not surprising. About 32 percent of American adults are obese, a condition linked to diabetes, heart disease, even cancer.

How about smoking? Almost 21 percent of American adults are addicted to cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s more than 45 million people. The estimated health care costs pegged to smoking: $96 billion.
By David S. Martin
CNN Senior Medical Producer

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2009/08/10/obesity-smoking-add-immense-burdens-to-health-care-costs/

AlbertG

How many billions of dollars has been raised from the tobacco tax ostensibly to pay for health related issues for smokers? How much of that money has been spent on health care issues for those same people. not much if any.

The fact is that the government lied about the use of that money. Those tax revenues are being spent on propping up governments all across the country. Not content with spending what is there, states are borrowing against future cigarette tax revenue as guarantees for bond borrowing.

Next time you see a smoker, thank him or her. They get to pay huge taxes for lots of waste in government while not getting anything in return.
If it was such a big deal, the money should have built smokers-only hospitals and medical centers. So, take the 96 billion and deduct the taxes already paid by the end users to make your point. There is no equivalent “fat tax” by the government, but it’s early – they just haven’t gotten around to it yet.

Jack Russell

Shut this stupid claptrap up. I don’t thank smokers. I smoked 3 packs a day when I was younger and chose to smoke then and choose not to now because I was intelligent enough to quit. Thank a stupid smoker for smoking? I’m just thankful they don’t have enough sense to avoid paying all those taxes. More power to them. Their choice to smoke makes them easy targets.

gary

Are they already refusing to hire obese folks?
Do they still sell fried foods, chips, soft drinks, etc?

Tsk tsk…

NiteNurse

I agree. Most hospitals still sell fried foods, chips, and soft drinks. At least half of their staff can be considered obese. I’m not a smoker myself but if you are going to single them out then you have to consider other bad habits as well.

Jack Russell

No they don’t. Where do these liberal, socialist ideas come from in America? This is a brainless, thoughtless position. Baylor is an employee. Baylor chooses to recruit and maintain a workforce by offering a pay and benefits package. One way to keep their costs down is to limit their employment to non-smokers. If they want to hire 580 lb. skydivers with Tourette Syndrome, that is their prerogative. What possible basis can anyone tell Baylor that they have to limit any legal behavior they don’t want to? Madness!

http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/2011/09/23/leading-off-92311/ Leading Off (9/23/11) | FrontBurner

[...] that will allow smokers who already work for the hospital system to continue to do so, but will put the kibosh on hiring anyone who is a smoker. You get to pee in a cup and everything. Some people think it’s kind of discriminatory and [...]
randyman

How errogant can some people be. This is an insult to all Americans and our freedoms. Nobody has any right to tell anybody what they can or cant do with their personal time. It is like working at a nazi prisoneer camp and you do exactly what the comadont says or else?

Frank Davis

The company that I work for went smoke free on property last year. In response to a question about a smoke free work force they responded that yes, in the future they will be going to a smoke free work force. So much for liberty.

Lary

You have the liberty to go get employment elsewhere. Sorry

NWH

Freedoms? Baylor is a private employer, yes? They have freedoms as well. For example, they have the freedom to hire whomever they damn well please. They cannot discriminate based on race, gender, or national origin. Ok, check. They can, however, hire people who have certain qualifications. They can hire based on work experience, educational background, and…wait for it….health. If they choose not to hire someone because they are unhealthy (in this case, because they’re a smoker), that is WITHIN THEIR RIGHTS. Period. If you are going to make the claim that smokers are not necessarily less healthy than non-smokers, you are dead wrong. FACT: As a whole, non-smokers are more healthy than smokers.

That is all.
Eric Foster

“How errogant can some people be.” That made my day. Thanks. And so this post has some redeeming value, randyman, your employer is footing the bill for your healthcare costs, so it is entirely ‘their business’ what you do to incur the costs that they fund. While there are certain things that they can’t legally protect themselves against, tobacco use isn’t one of them, and it’s verifiable.

Beltway Bill

SO…. they can also refuse to hire gay people based on their health issues too, right. And women, since they have unique health issues right? That’s all perfectly legal right?
Curly Bill

Inncoent people killed? I have never heard of anyone smoking 5 cigarettes, getting into their car and crashing into a station wagon full of kids because they were too inebriated to drive. Baylor should refuse to hire anyone who drinks alcohol..
Nycl Poster

This has nothing to do with smoking my friends. This is how the liberals in government slowly turn each and every man against each other. This is how it starts, and get worst from here. Last I checked, smoking a cigarette is legal. This is discrimination. Whats next guys?? Not hiring fat people? Or how about people with disabilities? Wake up America, this is what the liberals have in store for us going forward. You wanted change?? Well you got it folks. I hope you like it…..

Freedom (noun)

Well said. The handicapped in general are already known to have higher health care costs than a fully able person -which is why the Govt. has to force us to buy overpriced insurance.
Everybody thought it was just great that you couldn’t ‘get turned down for pre-existing conditions’ but very few of them realize that almost no insurance companies ‘turned down’ anybody anyway. They simply sell you an expensive policy that makes you pay 80% while they cover 20% -for several thousands a year in premiums lining their pockets. Obamacare should have been called the Medical Insurance Corporate Golden Parachute Act.

Curly

How’s about not hiring anyone with an Obama sticker on their car? Heh

kbernatovich

There are no more Obama bumper stickers. They were all destroyed during the ‘cash for clunkers’ fiasco!

NelsonBig`

It’s a Private Business. If they don’t want to hire you, there’s no need to force them. You have the right to smoke. They have the right to not hire you.

Since when did being hired become a privilege?

Government needs to stay the heck away from Private Business. It’s Private. They shouldn’t force you to watch something on your privately owned TV, they shouldn’t be able to tell you how to run a business either.

P.S. No Gov’t intervention also means no subsidies. This goes both ways.

RobertT

So a company has the right to not hire someone they consider to be obese or overweight? After all, obesity causes unique health concerns that cost everybody else too.

Bo Houff

Does an employee have the right to REFUSE to work for a boss who smokes? Or an obese boss? Or a boss with red hair? Or, should an employer be able to force a person to work for it even though the president of the company smokes?

Freedom works both ways….
NelsonBig

The answer is a resounding “YES”.

If you do not get hired for being overweight, oh well. Go somewhere else. Either that, or lose some weight.

Again, it’s a Private business. The owner should have the right to hire or fire you for ANY REASON! Just like I can do with my Private Property as I CHOOSE.

If you don’t agree, just don’t visit that business. Boycott. That is YOUR RIGHT.
NelsonBig

And Bo.

You’re thinking to hard.

Of course an employee can quit. That’s a pretty common understanding.

Joseph Blow

What about the freedom of an employer to hire who they want?

Nobody is telling anyone what they can or can’t do with their personal time because nobody has to work for Baylor.

No, working at Baylor is not like working at a Nazi prison camp. Anyone is free to leave at any time.
steamdwarf

a private company should be able to hire whoever they want – period. if other segments of the population don’t like it then don’t patronize them. it’s none of the governemtn business. call me old school.

Liberty

You’re not old school. These are just stupid people who don’t understand basic civics.

Shocker, I know…

Products of our great public educational system.