Smokers need not apply

Aftenposten
Aug. 24, 2005

A classified ad from automobile firm Toyota in Asker and Bærum specifying that smokers will not be employed has sparked controversy.

"This is lifestyle fascism. You have to ask, what next? Will it be the fat, the ugly, those with heart trouble or smelly feet?" said social medicine professor Per Fugelli.

A full-page ad in local newspaper Budstikka made it clear that smokers were unwanted at the Toyota offices in the Oslo suburb.

"People must be aware that a car firm has large open areas. Out of consideration to both the working environment and clients we must be very clear that it is smoke-free here," Toyota manager Henrik Junker told newspaper Dagbladet.

Junker does not agree that the ad discriminates, but Professor Fugelli wants to sound an alarm.

"This can be the first warning sign that we - following a pattern from the USA - are heading towards a situation where the employer invades a person's lifestyle and private life in a sinister and offensive way," Fugelli said.