'A job advertisement saying that `smokers need not apply' would not seem to fall under any of the prohibited grounds (under EU legislation),' Vladimir Spidla, the commissioner for employment and equal opportunities, wrote to Stihler, who showed the letter to the press.
This would have pleased the employer who placed the ad, call-centre director Philip Tobin, who reportedly told Irish radio in May, 'If these people (meaning smokers) can ignore so many
warnings and all that evidence then they haven't got the level of intelligence that I am looking for. Smokers are idiots.'
In other words, if you're addicted to nicotine, a substance that studies have repeatedly shown to be more difficult to withdraw from than heroin, you're too dumb to answer the phone.
There are all sorts of behaviours that people indulge in that are not intelligent: involvement in serial dysfunctional relationships, gambling, drinking, overeating.... Shouldn't the employer have to prove that the behaviour is interfering with the employee's ability to perform the job?
It's worth mentioning that the Ontario government's anti-smoking website is addressed http://www.stupid.ca/.
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