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Published October 2, 2004
Okemos firm bans all smoking
Weyco says employees will be fired if they smoke at work - or at all
By Barbara Wieland
Lansing State Journal
Smoking in Michigan
Smoking takes a toll in Michigan, financially and in terms of health:
• Smoking and secondhand smoking kill more than 300 Michigan residents a week.
• Ninety percent of lung cancer is smoking related.
• Lung cancer is the No. 1 cancer killer in Michigan.
• Smoking has surpassed breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer death in women.
• The state spends $880 million a year to treat tobacco-related illnesses of Medicaid patients.
Sources: American Lung Association of Michigan and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
On Jan. 1, all of Weyco Inc.'s 200 employees will be nonsmokers - or lose their jobs.
On that day, the Okemos-based insurance benefits administrator will make it a fireable offense to smoke anywhere, anytime - including in the privacy of an employee's own home after business hours.
"You can do whatever you want, but if you're going to work here, you can't be a smoker, like you can't be a drug user," owner Howard Weyers said.
It's a move sure to spark controversy in a state where nearly 26 percent of all adults smoke.
Nonsmokers who support the policy say it will pare health care costs and improve employees' lives.
"I think it's great. The intent of the policy is to help employees become healthier," said Mari Damerow, a benefits manager for Weyco.
Smokers say it tramples their rights and invades their privacy.
"I think it's pretty stupid," said Cooley Law School student Cal Eustaquio, 42, as he puffed on a torpedo cigar at the Creole Cigar Factory in downtown Lansing. "If other companies go the same way, smokers will be marginalized to the point they go underground."
Strict anti-smoking policies have been drafted elsewhere, but Weyco is believed to be among the first companies in mid-Michigan to institute such a rule, local experts say. CNN, the cable news network, is among employers that have implemented a similar smoking ban from the workplace to the home.
Indeed, there's no law to prevent Weyco from taking such action, said David Houston, an attorney with law firm Dickinson Wright who helped write Weyco's policy.
"This is the U.S. of A., and you, or an employer, can do whatever you want to do as long as it is not prohibited," he said. "There is no constitutionally protected right to smoke."
Under the policy, employees can be tested to determine if they smoke. The test is sensitive enough to distinguish people exposed to secondhand smoke from those who are smokers. Those who fail the test will be fired.
Weyers says the reason for the policy is his concern about health care costs associated with smoking. Studies show smokers are more prone to lung problems, including emphysema and cancer.
Said Weyers: "I don't want to pay for the results of smoking."
In keeping with his mission, Weyers has helped employees quit smoking by paying for cessation methods. He's also paid an acupuncturist to treat employees who thought acupuncture might help them quit.
The policy hasn't been popular with everyone. One employee already has quit, and Weyers said more are likely to either quit or be fired.
"I'm not worried about that," he said.
Weyco isn't the only company smokers need to worry about these days.
A growing number of employers are prohibiting smoking, said John Banzhaf, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health, an anti-smoking group with 100,000 members nationwide.
"Smoking adds to the cost of health and disability insurance, and that expense is ultimately borne by the employer and fellow employees," he said.
ASH has helped several employers in court when the policies have been challenged, Banzhaf added. The employers have won every time.
Still, those who disagree with the policy contend it goes too far.
"Where does that kind of thinking stop? Do you not hire employees who smoke or drink or are overweight?" wondered Marshall Kirk, co-owner of the Creole Cigar Factory in downtown Lansing. The American Civil Liberties Union "is going to have a field day with this."
The ACLU of Michigan agrees the policy might be challenged.
"Tobacco is a medical addiction, and there is some question of whether that could fall under the" Americans With Disabilities Act, spokeswoman Wendy Wagenheim said.
"Companies that do something like this are ripe for the picking."
Others oppose such policies because they give employers too much control.
"This is an indicator of how far corporate culture has invaded personal life. It's disconcerting to me that any business would worry about what someone does on their own time in their own home," said Todd Heywood, a former Lansing Community College trustee.
Heywood helped draft a policy when LCC went smoke-free last year. He agreed with making workplaces smoke-free, but drew the line at after-hours smoking.
"A company does not own you when they pay you," he said.
That last statement is my opinion as well. I will do anything legal I wish in my personal life if I want to, and fuck any employer who thinks they can do this. BTW I'm a non-smoker 13 years now, but I haven't forgotten my days of carton-a-week smoking. Until it's illegal like pot and narcs I support anyone's right to smoke in their own personal space or in an open air outside public place.