Plan would mandate quit-smoking classes

FAIRFAX, Va. — The first time Gerald Hyland of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in Virginia tried to cut smokers from the county’s payroll, more than a decade ago, it didn’t go over well. His suggestion that the county stop hiring smokers prompted angry criticism.

His latest idea — forcing county employees who smoke to take classes to help them quit — isn’t gaining much support, either. After all, Virginia is a state built on tobacco and the Jeffersonian ideals of limited government.

But for Hyland, a Democrat whose father smoked and died of lung cancer at age 50, all of that is beside the point.

“I think it’s time for us to get serious about this,” he said.

Smoking has been cast out from all manner of public life — restaurants and bars, offices and airports — banishing those who partake to the sidewalk. In Montgomery County, Md., a County Council member recently proposed banning smoking from all county property.

But Hyland’s idea represents a new front in the smoking wars: Instead of making the public domain smoke-free, some are pushing for it to be smoker-free.

In the workplace, tobacco users are often required to pay higher health-insurance premiums, and in recent years, some employers have begun adopting policies against hiring smokers. Although the hiring restriction is most popular among hospitals and health-care organizations, it is becoming increasingly common in other industries, despite lawsuits, the objections of civil-rights groups and smoker-protection laws.

In October, Delray Beach, Fla., adopted such a policy, saying that smokers were simply too expensive to maintain on the city payroll. The city’s decision relied in part on a 1995 Florida Supreme Court ruling that upheld a similar policy in North Miami.

Some workplaces require employees to sign statements confirming that they do not smoke; others use urine tests.

Although several antismoking and smokers ’ rights groups said they were not aware of any employers requiring workers to take smoking-cessation classes, they said measures aimed at pushing out smokers are becoming increasingly popular in public and private workplaces.

“A lot of companies are moving in that direction for financial reasons,” said Dennis Alexander, a regional official with the American Lung Association. “It’s no secret that smokers cost employers more.”

In Fairfax, Va., lighting up is prohibited at bus shelters and inside county buildings, and county employees are offered free, voluntary cessation classes. Hyland first floated the idea of making the classes mandatory at a board meeting last month, suggesting the county investigate whether it has the legal authority to require the classes. A county spokesman, Merni Fitzgerald, said attorneys are looking into that question.

Because smokers aren’t a protected class, requiring cessation courses wouldn’t violate federal anti-discrimination laws, said Christopher Kuczynski, a lawyer with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity, a Republican, said he wants the county to reduce smoking among its work force but that he probably wouldn’t support a proposal to make cessation classes mandatory. He would rather see the county invest in incentives for not smoking and a more robust employee wellness program.

“I like the carrot versus the stick,” he said.

Democratic Supervisor Jeff McKay said forced classes are “a step further than I’m willing to go.” He, too, wants an employee-wellness program that includes reduced insurance premiums for those who take part.

A representative of the American Civil Liberties Union said the group would probably oppose forced cessation classes, as it does bans on hiring smokers.

Audrey Silk, founder of the New York-based Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment, called Hyland’s suggestion “Orwellian.”

“It would be government dictating how you live,” she said. “Smoking and tobacco aren’t illegal.”

Even anti-smoking advocates cautioned against required cessation courses.

Ellen Vargyas, general counsel for the American Legacy Foundation, an antismoking group, said enacting such a policy could put the county on a slippery slope.

“Would overweight workers be required to go into Weight Watchers?” Vargyas asked.

She said offering incentives for participation is a better way to go. “A person’s job shouldn’t hang in the balance, as this suggests,” she said. “Smoking isn’t just a bad habit. It’s a serious addiction.”