You are a member of the local health food cooperative retail store (co-op) in De
ID: 417185 • Letter: Y
Question
You are a member of the local health food cooperative retail store (co-op) in Detroit. At the co-op’s monthly membership meeting, the manager says the store has adopted a new policy to prohibit hiring any person who smokes. The co-op already prohibits smoking in the workplace (as required by the state’s “Clean Indoor Air Act”). The new policy would bar hiring smokers even if they don’t smoke during working hours. Is the proposed policy legal—can the co-op refuse to hire anyone who smokes? Would your answer be different if the co-op was in Buffalo, New York? Explain.
Explanation / Answer
Detroit comes under the US state of Michigan and Michigan does not have any law that protects the employees from discrimination based on off-duty conduct. Hence the cooperative retail store can refuse to hire smokers if the store is located in Detroit.
The New York State labor law protects off-the-job activities of the employees and prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on their legal off-duty activities involving legal use of consumable products which covers tobacco. The cooperative retail store can prohibit smoking in workplace but it cannot discriminate against smokers in the process of hiring if the store is located in Buffalo, New York.
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