AFTER-HOURS LIFESTYLE CAN GET YOU IN TROUBLE AT WORK

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Watch what you do after you get off work: your
employer may also be watching-- and fire you for it, even if it's legal.

In states that have no lifestyle protection laws, "Your company can
use what you do on your own time to determine how well you perform
your job," warned Jeffrey Bernbach, a New York City attorney who
specializes in workplace law.

"Only three states-- New York, North Dakota and Colorado-- have
statutes protecting employees from job discrimination based on any
legal activity they choose to engage in after work," Bernbach pointed
out.

In half the states, he added, the only protected after-hours activity
an employee can engage in is smoking.

In his just-published "Job Discrimination II" (Voire Dire Press),
Bernbach writes that an employer might terminate you for such offenses
as "drinking six martinis before dinner or riding your Harley-Davidson
or taking herbal medications for your arthritis, which may label you
as a 'health nut,' or even seeking counseling to get through a bad
relationship, divorce, or the death of a loved one.

"If your company doesn't approve of your lifestyle, your job may be in
jeopardy," he said.

"The best data we've got indicates that at least 6,000 companies
discriminate against people who smoke off duty," said Lewis Maltby,
director of the workplace rights office of the ACLU in Princeton, N.J.

"You can't work at CNN (Cable News Network) if you smoke off duty, and
there are some companies that discriminate against off-duty drinking,"
Maltby continued.

"When you sign up as an (CNN) employee, you sign a paper saying that
you won't smoke," confirmed an official of Turner Broadcasting System
Inc., Atlanta, which operates CNN.

He also said no one has been fired as a result of this policy, and
that certain states like New York have anti-discrimination laws that
negate such policies.

"Smoking, drinking, riding a motorcycle or having any hobby that the
company presumes is risky-- such as skiing or scuba-diving-- have
their risks, but is it your boss's business?" Maltby asks.

In one Indiana case, he said, a hard-working machinist and model
employee stopped off at a bar one Friday night after work for a couple
of beers and his employer fired him.

The firing was legal because the company had a written policy against
off-duty drinking.

"Smoking marijuana (off-duty hours) will definitely get you in
trouble," Maltby added. He noted that "80 percent of the 'Fortune
1000' companies now have a drug testing program and if you're smoking
(marijuana) on weekends, there's a good chance it can cost you your
job."

"There are people who have gotten fired because of off-duty sex life,
including women cops who have posed for centerfolds. And if you're
gay, it can cost you your job in a heartbeat if anybody finds out
about it," Maltby said.

According to Bernbach, some biased employers, who can't fire employees
for their race or nationality, use their after-hours conduct as an
excuse to terminate them.

"Off-the-job surveillance has become more prevalent as employers look
for tools to get rid of people without running afoul of the
anti-discrimination laws," Bernbach said.

If employers seek to discriminate against you because you are a member
of a minority group or are over 50 years of age, he said, the
employers could say, "'We did it because the individual is a known
drug abuser."'

(EDITORS: Sherwood Ross is a free-lance writer who covers workplace
issues for Reuters. You can e-mail him at sherwood+mato.com. Any
opinions in the column are solely those of Mr. Ross.)

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady