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Question: should you discharge tech with DUI
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Ken,
Thanks for your effort in maintaining this forum. I'm looking for guidance from you and/or your readers. We're a small company in PA with just a couple of technicians. Our lead guy recently was nailed for driving under the influence. He was barely over the limit, and it seems like it was one of those situations where he had a little too much and didn't wait long enough to drive. I'm not condoning it; just saying that I think many of us have been there and not gotten caught.
It's been business as usual until this week, when he had his court date, and he lost his license for 30 days. We can get around that by having someone else drive, etc, but should we? Are we opening ourselves up to any future legal problems by not letting him go? Any chance we can get sued if he were to be involved in an accident? Anything we should be concerned about legally?
To the other security company owners: What's your company's policy here? Is this grounds for termination? Some other minor punishment? Look the other way? As I said, we're a small company--it would be a huge loss if we have to let him go, but I also don't want our company reputation tarnished.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. For obvious reasons, please keep this anonymous
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Response
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A few issues come to mind. On one hand, everyone deserves a second chance; good techs are hard to come by. On the other hand, an employer can be sued for the negligence of its employees. If your employee causes an accident while driving you are going to be responsible. You are also responsible for negligent hiring, or retention, of someone unsuitable for the position; someone untrustworthy; someone who is a danger to your customers and other employees.
Not every DUI conviction results in loss of license, especially without an exception for driving for work only. You should investigage the employees history with alcohol and prior convictions for DUI.
Another consideration is disability laws, but I'll leave that issue to our Employment Law expert Judge Ruth Kraft. You may actually have to give your employee the opportunity to get treatment before you discharge the employee. Since driving is part of this employees job I think you can at least suspend the employment until the license is restored.
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