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Stubbing Out Smokers
Here's one that might have slipped under your radar this summer: The European Commission says its OK for a company to refuse to hire smokers.
A while ago, an Irish call centre ran a job advertisement, advising that "smokers need not apply." The owner of the company behind the ad, when questioned, replied that he dislikes how smokers "stink".
However, the question was put to the European Commission, which has rarely been shy of protecting the rights of those who believe they have been discriminated against. No luck: According to Katharina von Schnurbein, a spokesperson for the commissioner of employment and social affairs, anti-discrimination legislation applies only to age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, race and gender.
Von Schnurbein is keen to say that the Commission is not giving the green light to those who wish to discriminate against smokers, nor does it advocate the idea of banning smokers from finding jobs. In a rare display of support for national rights, she argued that this is up to governments - nice to see a federalist measure rejected by someone in the European Commission, even if it is simply passing the buck.
So it's OK for the EU to interfere in how many hours workers choose to put in, but not in protecting what they do in their free time? There's hardly a workplace (or place of leisure) in Europe where smokers still light up indoors - now it's permissible to refuse a job based on what a candidate does in his free time?
It's based purely on prejudice: What about obese people in the workplace? If our Irish call centre had said "Fat people should not apply" how would the Commission rule?
