Shimp v. New Jersey Bell Telephone Company - A Major Public Health Concern, A Common Law Right, Clear And Overwhelming Evidence, Balancing Rights And Legislative Response

Shimp v. New Jersey Bell Telephone Company - A Major Public Health Concern

Tobacco smoke has been established as a carcinogen and is also associated with emphysema, heart disease, stroke, and other conditions. The health risks incurred by smokers could also affect those who are exposed to tobacco smoke involuntarily. The Environmental Protection Agency estimated that second-hand smoke causes approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths per year in nonsmokers, and the U.S. Labo…

Shimp v. New Jersey Bell Telephone Company - Further Readings

Shimp v. New Jersey Bell Telephone Company - A Common Law Right

Donna M. Shimp, a secretary at New Jersey Bell Telephone Company, successfully sought injunctive relief against her employer through the common law argument. Shimp was employed in an area in which other employees were permitted to smoke at their desks. She contended that inhalation of the resulting ETS was harmful to her health, and therefore her employer, by condoning the presence of ETS, allowed…

Shimp v. New Jersey Bell Telephone Company - Clear And Overwhelming Evidence

The court found that the affidavits from the plaintiff's attending physicians confirmed her medical sensitivity to tobacco smoke. Furthermore, Justice Gruccio cited evidence from the 1970 Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act and from the 1975 HEW report, The Health Consequences of Smoking, documenting the toxic nature of cigarette smoke. He further noted that the surgeon general's 1972 report of th…

Shimp v. New Jersey Bell Telephone Company - Balancing Rights And Legislative Response

In ordering the injunction against New Jersey Bell Telephone, the court acknowledged that the rights of nonsmokers in the workplace must be balanced against the rights of smokers, but stated firmly that "The right of an individual to risk his or her own health does not include the right to jeopardize the health of those who must remain around him or her in order to properly perform the duties of t…

Shimp v. New Jersey Bell Telephone Company - The Path Ahead

Though the Shimp case established an employer's common law duty to protect employees from ETS, analysts have found that the cause of action in this case may be questionable. According to Vallone, as of 1993, Shimp was the only case to grant injunctive relief to a plaintiff under the common law theory. In a Washington Supreme Court case, McCarthy v. Department of Social & Health Services (1988), on…

Shimp v. New Jersey Bell Telephone Company - Impact

Shimp v. New Jersey Bell Telephone Company - Smoking Banned In Public Places

Cigarette smoking can be hazardous to one's health, but breathing the smoke of others can also be dangerous. At least two percent of lung cancer deaths are believed to be caused by passive smoking. Additionally, exposure to second-hand smoke can result in an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, and perilous levels of carbon monoxide in the blood. Second-hand smoke is even more harmful to bab…