Secondhand smoke

[KateHardin]

I have been working for several years at a large business in Texas where smoking in the workplace is against policy. It is supposed to be a smoke-free environment, and we even have no-smoking signs on the doors. However, the president and my direct supervisor, whose offices surrounded my desk, smoked like chimneys daily. I knew that if I complained, even anonymously, it would be obvious who made the complaint, and I would lose my job. I suffered bad headaches, elevated high blood pressure, and always had the feeling there was no air to breathe, especially on days when they allowed customers to smoke in their offices as well. The Board of Directors had warned these two to quit smoking several times over several years, but ultimately looked the other way. They knew, and refused to make the smokers stop.

Recently, I mentioned something about it cautiously in an anonymous note. Not long after, I inadvertantly committed a minor policy violation, one that didn't affect anyone but me, and one that would need time to fix. However, instead of giving me the three days they knew I needed to fix the situation (overdrawn checking account), they claimed I committed a second violation, even when I did nothing but got only halfway in fixing the first situation, and was terminated. I have now been denied unemployment since the company has claimed that I did it a second time, when I did not.

I could not leave this job because it took a year to find it, and knew I'd be fired if I said anything. But I suffered badly, and when I finally got health benefits, immediately sought medical treatment, as much as I could while still exposed to the daily haze of cigarette smoke. Now, I can't even afford the medicine I need for high blood pressure, part of which they caused, because I have lost my job.

Sometimes I had to work around as many as four smokers at a time. I had to have many closed-door meetings with these two puffing away, which was extremely uncomfortable for me, and often made me sick. I was only allowed two breaks per day, and because we were so busy, only took very short lunches. I also had lots of overtime. Now, having said something, I'm out of a job. I can't prove this is why I was fired, as they have effectively blocked my unemployment. What recourse do I have?

[Beth3]

Even if you were fired for complaining anonymously about the smoking, that was not illegal unless your municipality has some statute that prohibits smoking inside private offices.

[KateHardin]

It does. There is a city ordinance against smoking in public buildings and businesses except restaurants that serve liquor. Furthermore, the Employee Handbook states that even one incidence of smoking can result in termination without the usual "first warning" write-ups.

We also found out that our alarms weren't being responded to. The fire alarm in the building went off a couple of months before I was terminated, and no one responded because they were waiting for us to call and let them know for sure we were having a fire, which we weren't. Then, when a defect caused one of the teller silent alarms to go off, as if were were being held up, the police simply switched it off and waited for us to call since the fire alarm had been a false alarm. Had either one of my bosses set fire in their offices, I would have been trapped because of where my desk was situated, and because our volunteer fire department refuses to come out until they know for sure there is a fire. I did watch the president accidentally set fire to some papers once, but he put it out before it set off the alarm. Even if the termination can't be proven to be the result of the smoking complaint, I still intend to sue. Second-hand smoke for several years is wrong, especially when the company is supposed to protect us from it and doesn't.