"Firefighter loses appeal of dismissal on smoking" April 27, 2013
WEYMOUTH — The state Civil Service Commission has upheld the firing of a Weymouth firefighter who was caught smoking.
In a ruling released Thursday, the commission said Weymouth had cause to fire Kenneth Morehouse in January 2012 after he was caught violating a state law that bars police and firefighters from smoking on or off the job. The ban has been in place since 1988.
Morehouse, who had been with the department since 2003, argued he was exempt from the ban because he began working as a firefighter in Boxborough in 1986, before the law went into effect.
The Patriot Ledger reported that Commissioner Cynthia Ittleman said the ban did apply to Morehouse because he was appointed to the Weymouth job after the ban took effect.
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Hasn't been since.
