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by crackerjack on Wed Sep 30, 2009 11:56 am
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-smokers-tax-collector-p093009,0,4365789.story

Smokers need not apply for jobs at the Palm Beach County Tax Collector's Office.

Tax Collector Ann Gannon today announced that she will no longer hire anyone who has regularly used tobacco products during the past year.

Job seekers will be required to submit an affidavit indicating they are non-smokers to go along with their job application to be considered for employment, according to the new policy.

The goal is to decrease medical insurance costs, Gannon said.

"There's not much to be said for smoking – it's a major cause of respiratory and circulatory disease, it contributes to increased insurance costs for us and the Palm Beach County taxpayers, it's unhealthy to be around, and expensive these days," Gannon said in written statement released today.

Medical insurance for the tax collector employees costs about $2.5 million each year, according to the tax collector's office.
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by garhkal on Wed Sep 30, 2009 5:17 pm
I take it florida is not one of those states which has smoker discrimination hiring laws in place. Otherwise i could easily see someone suing for this.
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by libertarian99 on Wed Sep 30, 2009 8:16 pm
garhkal wrote:
I take it florida is not one of those states which has smoker discrimination hiring laws in place. Otherwise i could easily see someone suing for this.
Funny how they think it's okay to openly state they won't hire smokers. You'll never hear them say up front they're not going to hire fat, sedentary people. Can you imagine what would happen if they took one look at a job candidate and said, "Sorry, but we won't even consider your application because you have a double chin and too much belly fat, which is a recipe for heart disease. Insurance rates are our first concern."

Employers need to be taken out of the loop, as far as insuring people. How did they ever get stuck with that responsibility, to begin with? It's not even just smokers who are targeted in the witch hunt any more. You can sense resentment about anyone who develops a chronic health problem, gets cancer, or needs 24/7 care for an invalid child. As time goes on, all this personal stuff comes out in the open at work, and I'm not sensing much compassion any more about any of it.
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by garhkal on Thu Oct 01, 2009 5:23 pm
No shit. It is just like employers having to provide child care.
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by ski on Sat Oct 03, 2009 6:58 am
that women should ousted from office,save tax dollars by cutting smoking from prisons ,lets punish prisoners not taxpayers!
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by Pete Gatti on Sat Oct 03, 2009 12:47 pm
crackerjack wrote:


The goal is to decrease medical insurance costs, Gannon said.
....

Medical insurance for the tax collector employees costs about $2.5 million each year, according to the tax collector's office.


Ann Gannon is not a very forward thinking person. Does she really think the insurance company will sit back and take a $2.5 million yearly hit to their bottom line? Of course not, they'll just raise their rates to make up the difference.

So what was accomplished? Non-smoking employees get to pay for her prejudice against smokers.
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by gilster on Sat Oct 03, 2009 6:20 pm
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2007/06/compass_to_hono.html

Quote:
Compass to honor Palm Beach tax collector at Stonewall Ball on June 23

- Compass will honor Palm Beach County Tax Collector Anne Gannon with the Plakas Leadership Award at the sixth annual Stonewall Ball on June 23 at the Harriet Himmel Theater in CityPlace, West Palm Beach.

The gala, which connects the gay and lesbian community with elected officials, will feature the Patron Dinner and awards ceremony at 6 p.m. with the Ball following at 9 p.m.

Compass' Leadership Award was created to honor a community leader or elected official who personifies a history of inclusive leadership for social justice. Under her tenure as a state representative, Gannon fought against legislation to limit privacy of people living with HIV. She also has had a long stand advocating for women's reproductive rights.

~snip~

However she adamantly discriminates against people who smoke---

Ding-Ding-Ding - we have a hypocrite winner!!!!
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by garhkal on Sun Oct 04, 2009 4:41 pm
gilster wrote:
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2007/06/compass_to_hono.html

Quote:
Compass to honor Palm Beach tax collector at Stonewall Ball on June 23

- Compass will honor Palm Beach County Tax Collector Anne Gannon with the Plakas Leadership Award at the sixth annual Stonewall Ball on June 23 at the Harriet Himmel Theater in CityPlace, West Palm Beach.

The gala, which connects the gay and lesbian community with elected officials, will feature the Patron Dinner and awards ceremony at 6 p.m. with the Ball following at 9 p.m.

Compass' Leadership Award was created to honor a community leader or elected official who personifies a history of inclusive leadership for social justice. Under her tenure as a state representative, Gannon fought against legislation to limit privacy of people living with HIV. She also has had a long stand advocating for women's reproductive rights.

~snip~

However she adamantly discriminates against people who smoke---

Ding-Ding-Ding - we have a hypocrite winner!!!!


I hope someone brings that up to the compass leadership group.
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by JoshNJ on Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:25 am
garhkal wrote:
I take it florida is not one of those states which has smoker discrimination hiring laws in place. Otherwise i could easily see someone suing for this.

Correct, there are no smoker protection laws in Florida: http://slati.lungusa.org/state-teml.asp?id=9#SPL

http://slati.lungusa.org/appendixf.asp
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by JoshNJ on Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:30 am
libertarian99 wrote:
Can you imagine what would happen if they took one look at a job candidate and said, "Sorry, but we won't even consider your application because you have a double chin and too much belly fat, which is a recipe for heart disease. Insurance rates are our first concern."

I think it would be insensitive to the obese person to hear those comments, but the reason doesn't seem any different than not hiring a smoker in Florida.
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