Rich Menghello's article was featured in Legal News
on November 9, 2015.
Football powerhouse USC fired its head football coach, Steve
Sarkisian, in October after it was widely reported that he had been
under the influence of alcohol during several team events. His
termination provides a lesson for any employer wondering how it
should handle the sometimes-touchy situation involving possible
alcohol abuse by an employee.
What should an employer do if it believes one of its employees
is under the influence at work? It may come as a surprise that the
employer does not have the unfettered right to treat employees with
alcohol problems in any manner it sees fit. That's because the
federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Oregon's
disability law consider alcoholism a protected disability. In other
words, if an employer fires someone because it knows or suspects
the person is an alcoholic, an ADA claim could be forthcoming.
