1. How would you rule on Rodrigues’s right to privacy claim?
2. Should employers be able to fire employees who smoke off the job? Explain.
According to the American Lung Association’s Tobacco Policy Project/ State Legislated Actions on Tobacco Issues (SLATI), as of 2013, 29 states and the District of Columbia have laws protecting smokers from adverse employment action based on smoking tobacco.3 While Massachusetts law does not provide explicit shelter for smokers, it offers statutory protection from “unreasonable, substantial, or serious interference” with an individual’s privacy.4 Rodrigues brought suit against the Scotts Company claiming, among other things, invasion of privacy.