Odor of Cigarette Smoke Causes School Employee to Lose Job

FoxNews4, Portland, ME ^ | n/a

[metesky]

Odor of Cigarette Smoke Causes School Employee to Lose Job

Last Edited: Friday, 14 Sep 2007, 9:53 AM CDT

Created: Friday, 14 Sep 2007, 9:36 AM CDT

The Denton Independent School District has removed an employee from her position because she smells like cigarette smoke.

Suzanne Lidster was thrilled when she was recently hired to assist a student with disabilities at L.A. Nelson Elementary.

"It's something that God sent me here to do with this child," Lidster told FOX 4.  "It's like OK, this fell in my lap."

But after less than two weeks on the job, Lidster said she received a voicemail informing her that she had lost her position. 

The school's principal left a message on her cell phone Tuesday morning saying that a doctor said the odor of smoke on Lidster had aggravated the student's allergies. The principal also said that Lidster was not a good fit for the job.

"Like getting a voicemail from the school saying hey, don't come back to the school because you stink from smoke."

Lidster said she smokes eight cigarettes a day but never on campus.

"I don't stink," she said. But she admits that she may be used to the smell after smoking for 32 years.

Lidster tearfully told FOX 4 reporter Rebecca Aguilar that she would never do anything that might hurt a child.

"No, I would never harm a child, never knowingly harm a child smoking a cigarette, having the odors on my body, no I would never ever harm a child."

A district spokeswoman told FOX 4 that she couldn't talk about the case but did say Lidster had not been fired.

The spokeswoman said because Lidster is an at-will employee, she could be terminated at any time for no reason.

Denton ISD's human resources officer is looking into the case.

Lidster said she will quit smoking but will do it on her own terms.

[metesky]

Shut-up and take it!

[SoftballMominVA]

Already posted

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1897122/posts

[The Ghost of Rudy McRomney]

God , I despise what this country has become.

[metesky]

What about that teacher I had so many moons ago? The one that wore the same houndstooth wool jacket for four years and never had it dry-cleaned. Talk about stinky!

[metesky]

Whoa! Sorry about that.

Original thread

There it is folks, for whoever wants to jog over to yesterday's thread.

Thanks for the heads up, SoftballMominVA.

[Dr. Sivana]

If the student has a severe enough allergy, it could be a real issue. Unfortunately, there are a lot of whiners who exaggerate their sensitivity, which makes it harder for the people with real problems. Sometimes, hard-core problems like these accompany those with physical disabilities.

The school should find another student for her to work with.

[badpacifist]

"I don't stink," she said. But she admits that she may be used to the smell after smoking for 32 years.

Fired... I don't know about that but I smoked for 20 years and never realized how much this smell offended people. A fart usually goes away after a few minutes. When my son comes over he is oblivious of how his clothes smell of smoke. Even gets worse the more trips outside he takes. I can't fire my son and he doesn't listen anyway but it is offensive. Some people just smell for different reasons and there are consequences on how people look at you and treat you.

[Mark was here]

Funny how urine / booze soaked democrats can sit in a library all day.

[SoftballMominVA]

NP, I’ve done the same thing more than once

[Grut]

Just to clear up a point, this is in Denton, Texas. There is no Denton, Maine.

[metesky]

Yeah, I know (now). Sunday morning, hung over, posting without enough coffee.

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

The left continues to win the battle against individual freedom. They have won the battle against freedom of speech, freedom of thought, White Christian males.

[tenthirteen]

This sounds unbelievable, but I heard on the radio yesterday a story from the UK that a man had severely broken his ankle in a fall about two years ago and it was not set right. He asked the NHS to fix it, and it required surgery. The NHS (National Health Service) informed him that they would not schedule any surgery until he stopped SMOKING! He said he could only get down to 10 smokes a day, and they told him to pound sand and not come back until he was lab certified free of nicotine, and off cigarettes permanently.

Shades of Hilary Care?

[wbill]

One of my HS teachers reeked. Between her 2-3-4 pack a day habit and her incredible BO, it was a trial just to sit in class with her - especially in the wintertime, when we couldn't open the windows. Were I principal, I'd have fired her, too.

So.....before all of the ANTI-antismoking people jump in, there may be other forces at work.

[L98Fiero]

“So.....before all of the ANTI-antismoking people jump in, there may be other forces at work.”

Maybe but I believe Texas is an “at will” state, like my own. If that’s the case, this is a moot subject. She can be fired for any or no reason. The woman should switch to cloves, get some artsy glasses and hairdoo and start wearing all black. They probably would never have said a word. ;)

[Dudoight]

“There is no evidence that tobacco smoke causes allergic reactions.” It is likely that the smoke causes a reflex response in the nose causing increased nasal congestion etc. Avoidance is advised although it is possible that oral decongestants, intra-nasal antihistamines or intranasal steroids can be helpful in relieving some of these symptoms.

Wouldn’t a person have to be actually smoking to cause this ‘irritation’? I don’t think you can have an allergy to a smell.

[Wage Slave]

It is possible that this is legitimate. The smell of cigarettes gives me migraines, as do certain perfumes. Just the smell alone lingering on a smoker’s clothes and hair is enough to cause a migraine, unless I get away from that person fairly quickly.

Now, instead of firing her, why can’t they let her work with someone who is not sensitive to it, or give her another job within the system? No need to punish her for it.

[L98Fiero]

“No need to punish her for it.”

As someone else pointed out, all they had to do was suggest she get dome Febreeze or some other odor eliminator.

This is probably little more than class warfare. I’m thinking the cigs actually had very little to do with it.

[metesky]

It is class warfare, but one of the markers of
what is today considered to be low class and uneducated is cigarette smoking.

[Shots]

This is like the mother who claimed fool because her kid was allergic to peanut butter so she wanted the school to ban everyone from having it.

I think she might have a good cause for a wrongful firing lawsuit since smoking is legal. Yes it is banned in certain areas but no where does it say it is illegal to smoke.

The right thing to do would have been give her a different assignment within the school or perhaps transfering the student but that makes too much sense.