Slowly I turned...and walked out the door.

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bkludecke

Senior Member
Location
Big Bear Lake, CA
Occupation
Retired Electrical Contractor
We work in any conditions. Bad weather, sewer plants & lift stations, vermin infested homes, smoke filled rooms, confined spaces, and live work. The key to all this (as previously mentioned) is to price the work accordingly, train employees in proper methods and safeguards, and provide PPE as necessary.

Common sense also works well. I have one man who is very allergic to cats so I try to keep him out of "cat houses" :D . Another guy has severe allergies to cedar so I don't have him installing the lights in the cedar closet. I also make accomodations for religeous objections (bars, churches etc,), smoking and the like.
 

JohnJ0906

Senior Member
Location
Baltimore, MD
bkludecke said:
Common sense also works well. I have one man who is very allergic to cats so I try to keep him out of "cat houses" :D . Another guy has severe allergies to cedar so I don't have him installing the lights in the cedar closet. I also make accomodations for religeous objections (bars, churches etc,), smoking and the like.

Strangely, I seem to do most of our bar work - I'm a recovering alcoholic.
I guess the reasoning is that I don't drink, so I'm better than someone who does drink.
I guess they hope I don't pick that particular day to go "off the wagon" ;)
 
Welcome to the Peoples Republic of Americas

Welcome to the Peoples Republic of Americas

Tiger Electrical said:
I was interviewing contractors to finish a family room remodel I had started & got too busy to finish. I had chosen the contractor when my wife and son both said to forget him because he smelled of cigarettes.

Dave

That would be discrimination. How about a guy with a Confederate flag on the back, or an NRA sticker? How do you know if the guy is not a pedofile, or an adulterer?

I can hardly believe what I am reading on this thread, and wonder if it is in Iran and we talking about letting a man work in the house while the wife(s) is/are home.

...and so the cherished freedoms are being slowly eroded that our childern will know no freedom.
 

crossman

Senior Member
Location
Southeast Texas
weressl said:
That would be discrimination.

Discrimination to not use a contractor because he smelled like cigarettes? You must be kidding. If I am hiring a contractor, it is my business to hire whichever one makes me feel the most comfortable.
 
crossman said:
Discrimination to not use a contractor because he smelled like cigarettes? You must be kidding. If I am hiring a contractor, it is my business to hire whichever one makes me feel the most comfortable.

Nope, I am not kidding and you have no right to make a decision based on 'whichever one makes me feel the most comfortable'.
 

crossman

Senior Member
Location
Southeast Texas
Let me make sure...

You are saying that if I am going to hire a contractor to do a room addition at my home, then it is against the law for me to choose 'whichever one makes me feel the most comfortable'?

What criteria would one need to use to make the decision of which contractor to use then, if it can't be based on my comfort level?
 

480sparky

Senior Member
Location
Iowegia
weressl said:
Nope, I am not kidding and you have no right to make a decision based on 'whichever one makes me feel the most comfortable'.

I have a complete and total right to choose who I want to sign a contract with. It's my money, and I'll spend it my way.

Recently, we had a pizza deilvery driver who became the victim of an attempted armed robbery. The driver pulled out his own gun and shot the robber. Twice. Then took the would-be robbers' gun. The driver had a permit to carry the weopon.

I say, "Horray for the honest, hard-working guy fed up with crooks". But his employer dismissed him, stating carrying a firearm was against company policy.

So I have chosen not to patronize that pizza establishment again.

Am I breaking any law?

I have no doubt that I have lost jobs because I have the following two emblems on my vehicle:

squarencompassgold_png.jpg
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But that is the customers' choice not to hire me. It's their money and they will spend it their way.

Sing it, Frank....
tn_Sinatra_Frank_-_My_way.jpg
 

electricmanscott

Senior Member
Location
Boston, MA
weressl said:
Nope, I am not kidding and you have no right to make a decision based on 'whichever one makes me feel the most comfortable'.


The hell I don't.

I can let anybody in or deny anybody from coming into my home for ANY reason I can think up.

THAT is my freedom for which you feel we are losing yet you don't want me to have.
 
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480sparky said:
I have a complete and total right to choose who I want to sign a contract with. It's my money, and I'll spend it my way.

Recently, we had a pizza deilvery driver who became the victim of an attempted armed robbery. The driver pulled out his own gun and shot the robber. Twice. Then took the would-be robbers' gun. The driver had a permit to carry the weopon.

I say, "Horray for the honest, hard-working guy fed up with crooks". But his employer dismissed him, stating carrying a firearm was against company policy.

So I have chosen not to patronize that pizza establishment again.

Am I breaking any law?.

Good for you, that IS your choice.

No you have not broken or breaking any law. The employee on the other hand was, so the employer had the right to terminate him. The employer may personally feel that it would be right for the guy to carry a weapon, however his insurance company most likely would not cover him UNLESS he prohibits his drivers from carying firearms.

480sparky said:
I have no doubt that I have lost jobs because I have the following two emblems on my vehicle:

squarencompassgold_png.jpg
oes.gif


But that is the customers' choice not to hire me. It's their money and they will spend it their way.

When you hire somebody, on the other hand, you can not disciminate an race, religion, etc. Only the individuals capability to perform the job should be the criteria. Anything else taken into consdieration is called discimination.
 

bikeindy

Senior Member
Location
Indianapolis IN
weressl said:
When you hire somebody, on the other hand, you can not disciminate an race, religion, etc. Only the individuals capability to perform the job should be the criteria. Anything else taken into consdieration is called discimination.

Ect doesn't include cigarette smoking, sorry and if I am hiring a contractor and one who comes to my house can't communicate with me very well I don't have to hire him either. THAT IS NOT discrimination. I think you might be having a lapse of reason. If some guy smells like he just urinated on himself but says he can do the job are you going to hire him?
 

480sparky

Senior Member
Location
Iowegia
weressl said:
When you hire somebody, on the other hand, you can not disciminate an race, religion, etc. Only the individuals capability to perform the job should be the criteria. Anything else taken into consdieration is called discimination.

So if someone comes to your door, smokin' a joint, guzzlin' liquer, with an Uzi tucked into their pants and a swastika tattooed on their forehead, and more metal punched into their scalp than you own in tools, you'll glady let them into your house?

I think the key phrase here is "When you hire somebody...." I'm not required to hire the most competent person.
 

Rewire

Senior Member
480sparky said:
So if someone comes to your door, smokin' a joint, guzzlin' liquer, with an Uzi tucked into their pants and a swastika tattooed on their forehead, and more metal punched into their scalp than you own in tools, you'll glady let them into your house?

I think the key phrase here is "When you hire somebody...." I'm not required to hire the most competent person.
not hiring the most competent person is the can opener for the can of worms.
 

480sparky

Senior Member
Location
Iowegia
Rewire said:
not hiring the most competent person is the can opener for the can of worms.

Then if it's required to hire the most competent person, that one person is going to be reeeeeeally busy.

What state is he/she currently working in, and what direction is he/she headed?
 
crossman said:
I'm not a labor attorney, but don't the discrimination laws apply to the employer-employee relationship, not to the homeowner - contractor relationship?

Weather it is a permanent employment or contractual retainment for a specific task, makes no difference. The only judgment the employer/retainer supposed to make is the individuals ability to perform the task.
 

crossman

Senior Member
Location
Southeast Texas
Apart from getting the work done, a good part of "the task" is leaving me with a warm fuzzy feeling and not being subjected to a foul smelling contractor in my home. To deny me the very right to choose whom may enter my home would be the biggest afront to freedom that I could ever imagine. I certainly grant a person the right to smoke, but I certainly have the right to not allow that person in my home.
 
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