Detroit Medical Center will not hire smokers

The Detroit Medical Center is digging the “No Irish Need Apply” signs out of storage and replacing Irish with “Smoker.”

The Vanguard-owned hospital will no longer hire people who smoke, even if they only smoke in their off-hours and away from DMC facilities, which are smoke-free regardless.

Crain’s: The Detroit Medical Center said today that it will not hire smokers after July 1 as part of its nicotine-free hiring policy. All applicants hired will be required to complete a nicotine screening test.

High-functioning alcoholics, compulsive eaters, people who have random unprotected sex with anonymous strangers at interstate rest stops, of course, are still encouraged to apply for any of the Detroit Medical Center's many career opportunities.

But since smoking is a socially icky unhealthy behavior, it’s totally appropriate for an employer to tell its employees what legal activities they can and cannot take part in during those hours they are not at work. -- JTW