An employee was discharged for smoking in a no-smoking work area, a violation of his employer’s workplace rules.  The plaintiff filed an action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, alleging that the employer’s action was taken against him because of his race.  The court granted the employer’s motion to dismiss the case, saying the employee failed to show that the discharge was based on racial bias and that “there is substantial evidence that plaintiff was indeed smoking in an unauthorized area.”

36 EPD sec. 35095, 1.5 TPLR 2.146 (U.S. Dist. Ct., Ga., 1985).