Legal Question in Employment Law in Florida

To Whom It May Concern:

This morning I received a call about a possible job opportunity. As I am actively looking for employment I agreed to a same day interview. This opportunity was for a place called the Fire Place Doctor located in Milton, FL. www.fireplacedoctor.net. The owner's name is Dean Joyner.

As I sat anxiously waiting on the owner to come and meet me, three other women walked in and joined me also to be interviewed. While mass interviews do not bother me, Mr. Joyner actually went over and revealed our personal information from our resumes and job applications openly to all four of us. In doing so, all four of us were a little befuddled however, we learned that all four of us are indeed equally qualified for the open positions they have available.

Next, he began to ask us random questions such as, do we do drugs are drink alcohol. Of coarse our answer was naturally, "no."

The next question was, do you smoke? Two of us including myself, answered yes, and the other two answered no. Mr. Joyner then proceeded to tell us that their place of employment is a "smoke free" workplace. With a smile, I said that was not a problem because my home is also a smoke free environment and that I have also been trying to quit. Not that it mattered because I have always smoked on my own time and have for years. Mr. Joyner said with a smug smirk, "You are not understanding me, if you smoke, you cannot work here."

I could not believe my ears. I decided to reiterate what he said to make sure that I understood him correctly and said, "so that I am understanding you correctly, if I smoke at all, even on my time at home, I cannot work here?"

His response was, "correct."

Me, the other smoker, and another candidate who does not smoke walked out. She too was disgusted by this. The reason I am telling you this story is to ask you if this would be considered discrimination?

I thank you in advance for your help.

Sincerely,

Sharon O'Neill

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