Drug Abuse

Question by $ ully: A company not hiring back a recovering drug addict?
Hey guys a friend of mine used to work for this company with me. He was on doctor prescribed drugs to help with a drug addiction. One day he came to work very drowsy from the drugs he was taking. Now let me be clear he was not abusing these drugs he was taking them as prescribed and the company told him he was not allowed to work until he provided information documenting the drugs were prescribed. So he did just that and found that the drugs he was prescribed had side-effects when mixed with the others he was taking. He applied back to work there again because when he was trying to find his info they erased his info and all that stuff. By law can the company not hire him back? He has sufficient proof is he covered under the ADA in regards to his drug addiction and rehabilitation?

Best answer:

Answer by im1grlegrl
The first thing you have to look at is your state and the state laws. Only 22 states in the union are Right To Work states. The rest are called Employment At Will or Right To Fire states. I am afraid the problem your friend is going to encounter is in your statement of “…when he was trying to find his info they erased his info and ALL THAT STUFF.” The fact that they “erased his info” means they actually terminated his employment with the company. The reason they fired him my guess is in ALL THAT STUFF. If they are a Right To Fire state then they do not have to show “just cause”. If they are in a Right To Work state then they do have to show “just cause” but its a catch 22 in that they can always come up with another reason other than disability or discrimination.

The first place to start is with your company handbook and determine what “just cause” is legal, if any at all. The next place to go is your states labor laws. I would also contact the ADA in my state as well and get them involved. The only place I can see where your friend may have a case is if he has documentation of the company saying he could not come back to work unless and until he had notice from dr. If that is in writing he can use that however it is still going to depend alot on your state labor laws as well. The burden of proof is ALWAYS on the terminated employee to prove he/she was unjustly and unlawfully terminated. That is unfortunately a very difficult thing to do.

The following sources are where I would begin. I also cited the ADA itself because it has some amendments that were passed in 08 to be effective in 09.

Kansas's Bruise Cruise
Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett told Kansas.com that the child abuse law is clear enough as is and parents and teachers aren't being persecuted for spanking. “We don't arrest ….. First came Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street—a …
Read more on Daily Beast

First Read: Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Florida ranks third in info-tech jobs: Florida ranks third nationally in information technology companies and jobs behind only California and Texas, according to a report from industry magazine InfoWorld. (South Florida … Today on First Coast Connect …
Read more on WJCT NEWS