Downey : Fired Phone Clerk Wins Job Back in Arbitration

A labor arbitrator has ordered GTE California to rehire a Lakewood man who was fired in 1988 because the telephone company could not guarantee him a smoke-free environment at its Downey office.

Craig Chambers, 43, also will receive back wages under last week’s decision by Los Angeles arbitrator William Levin. The amount of those back wages has not been determined, said lawyer Gary Kessler, who represents Chambers.

Chambers, who now installs telephone lines for Pacific Bell, said Wednesday he had not decided whether he will accept his old job. A spokeswoman for GTE declined to comment on the decision.

Chambers, who was an assignment clerk with GTE, presented his supervisors with doctors’ letters saying he was allergic to cigarette smoke and requested a smoke-free work environment.

He was placed on unpaid leave in November, 1988, and was fired the next month after GTE determined it could not guarantee him a workplace free of cigarette smoke, Chambers said.

Chambers also has sued GTE in Superior Court for wrongful termination. The lawsuit is pending.