Union arbitration case involving a termination due to the employee needing treatment for addictions?
individual had been to treatment previous and straight back to work. Relapse occurred. Asked for treatmentinstead terminated
Answers:
Drug addiction is one of those things that is covered under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) so the question becomes how did the company handle the firing? Were there a number of written warnings and can they be tied into the addiction? Was the person fired seeking professional help prior to termination? If so for how long? Was FMLA used? If so for how long? Was any company health benefits used during the treatment? Any company paid leave time? I can see this going to the NLRB and if it does precedence in cases such as this normally find for the employee. I would do more research into NLRB findings and use those to back your case.
It depends on the contract.
Depends on the company and the union agreement. In most companies the rule is that if the individual goes for treatment and completes the program they will have a job when they come back but if the individual then goes back to the old habits and has to go back to rehab the person will be terminated.
It does depend on the contract. Often, drug treatment is ADA protected, but current drug use is not. So if the employee relapsed, the termination might not for the treatment, it might be for becoming a drug user again after getting the job.
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