Notices

Fired from my job for being intoxicated

Old 09-20-2014, 04:53 AM
  # 61 (permalink)  
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 2,126
"...CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Annotated Code of Maryland, Health General Article Section 17-214.1, was in effect in February, 1990. That Law requires the employer to provide an employee who has tested positive for controlled substances or alcohol a copy of the lab test results, the employer's written policy on substance abuse, notice of the employer's intent to take disciplinary actions, and notification that the employee may request independent testing of the same sample at his own expense. The claimant worked for this employer in Landover, Maryland, and it is concluded that this Law was applicable to the employer, and that the employer's failure to comply with the Law negates a finding that the claimant was discharged for misconduct or gross misconduct..."


Originally Posted by PolarBlue View Post
I agree, it may be worth getting some free legal advice. So far the employer hasn't provided me with this:

Decision Number 1461-BH-91 - Discharge - Sections 8-1002, 8-1002.1, 8-1003 - Maryland Unemployment Decisions Digest - Appeals

I need to find out if I should have gotten this right away and if not how long they have to provide it. It's been almost a week.
Again I suggest some kind of legal aid.........again you're grasping, and I think this you'll find that this example also does not apply to you. You were drunk; no 'testing' required.

(o:
NoelleR
NoelleR is offline  
Old 09-20-2014, 06:12 AM
  # 62 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 177
Of course testing is required, and I was tested. lol. They took me to some clinic and made me pee in a cup. Otherwise it could have been some other medical condition.

And when they do test you they must follow certain rules according to the law.
PolarBlue is offline  
Old 09-20-2014, 08:35 AM
  # 63 (permalink)  
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 2,126
Cool

OK, yes, you were tested (for their verification), but you weren't fired because of the tests; you were fired because you were drunk. It just seems like you're grasping..........trying to justify that you shouldn't have been fired. Let it go............and deal with your sobriety. Again, I say, check with a lawyer.

(o:
NoelleR
NoelleR is offline  
Old 09-20-2014, 08:59 AM
  # 64 (permalink)  
Member
 
readerbaby71's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,778
Some states have at-will employment statutes that allow employers to terminate employment for any reason, at any time.

At-will employment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
readerbaby71 is offline  
Old 09-20-2014, 09:24 AM
  # 65 (permalink)  
Member
 
Notmyrealname's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Midwest, USA
Posts: 1,022
As far as I am aware, Maryland is a strong at-will employment state, which means they can terminate you for any reason or no reason, with some fairly narrow exceptions I won't bother listing here because being drunk on the job isn't one of them.

Whether or not you receive unemployment benefits is a different question, but if you haven't filed for benefits AND been denied benefits yet then discussion of whether or not you can be denied benefits for being terminated due to intoxication on the job, and whether the employer failed to comply with any requirements under law for denying benefits in that situation, seems premature.
Notmyrealname is offline  
Old 09-20-2014, 10:16 AM
  # 66 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 177
Originally Posted by NoelleR View Post
OK, yes, you were tested (for their verification), but you weren't fired because of the tests; you were fired because you were drunk. It just seems like you're grasping..........trying to justify that you shouldn't have been fired. Let it go............and deal with your sobriety. Again, I say, check with a lawyer.

(o:
NoelleR
I will, but what I'm getting at is if they didn't follow proper procedure according to the law, the reason for firing can't be considered misconduct or gross misconduct and I can get unemployment or possibly take it further. According to HR on the phone I was let go because the test results came up positive.

Focusing on sobriety is important. But sorting certain things out during this process will help relieve some of the stress. If I wind up losing everything I can't imagine not going back to the bottle. I'm trying to prevent that. I'm having a really hard time letting it go right now, especially being raised to be responsible and always pay my bills on time. Just a lot going through my foggy head and I wish I could stop it.
PolarBlue is offline  
Old 09-20-2014, 12:05 PM
  # 67 (permalink)  
Member
 
wpainterw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,550
Why not explore AA and see how that goes for awhile. You can talk with the folks at the meeting about the prospects of getting some kind of temporary employment until you get your feet on the ground and some sobriety going. It may be premature to rush it by trying to get employment equal to your former job right away. Once you build up some confidence and a track record which causes others to have confidence in you then it will be a better time to get the kind of job you had. First things first. Sobriety is the key to everything. Once you have a track record of that prospects will open up for you. Remember that a certain percentage of employers who interview you may have gone through what you're experiencing now. Show them that you can make the grade as they did.Good luck!

W.
wpainterw is offline  
Old 09-20-2014, 04:46 PM
  # 68 (permalink)  
Member
 
wpainterw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,550
Originally Posted by PolarBlue View Post
I've been thinking about a move across country where I have a roommate waiting. Just say I relocated. My current job can't tell anyone why I was terminated.

Just need to relax and get myself straight. Thanks for all the advice.
They call that the "geographical cure." Problem is that alcoholism is a very portable disease As far as sobriety goes, moving changes nothing. However, if moving is the only possible way to keep things together then it's an option, but don't kid yourself. If you got a job in another state and didn't remain sober, the illness of alcoholism would continue to progress and you'd eventually be fired all over again. Moving may tend to strengthen denial and postpone recovery or prevent it altogether. It's an option of last resort which has substantial risks. It's far better to stay put and work out some temporary means to put food on the table, etc.

W
wpainterw is offline  
Old 09-20-2014, 05:19 PM
  # 69 (permalink)  
Member
 
b086's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 64
"If I wind up losing everything I can't imagine not going back to the bottle. I'm trying to prevent that."

two things come to mind, reading what you wrote here:

1. without intending any disrespect, going back to the bottle is insane -- in the sense that insanity means repeating the same actions and expecting different results. if you cannot see this insanity clearly enough to know, without any doubt, that it is madness and will only cause you to suffer more, then your first priority has to be recovery. how can you expect to put your life back together if you continue to believe that drinking is a viable solution when things get tough?

2. also, things are guaranteed to be tough, at one time or another. maybe you get your job back....but then something else threatens your sense of financial security. faced with the idea of "losing everything," you drink, and then you are back to square one. "preventing" a drink by getting the circumstances of your life right is doomed to failure, because circumstances are often outside of our control.

to me, your situation sounds a bit like a man who is on fire, complaining of his terrible thirst -- insisting that if he can only drink some water, then he'll worry about the fire later. you are thirsty (anxious about work/money/responsibility) because you are on fire (struggling with drink). put sobriety first and the rest will follow. anyway, that's what worked for me.

i completely understand and can relate to the stress that you are probably experiencing now, about wanting to meet your responsibilities and establish financial security. i'm not trying to deny that or downplay it or wish it away. i'm only suggesting that, from my perspective, the solution lies in action on a different set of problems -- namely, problems related to drinking.

wishing you all the best.
b086 is offline  
Old 09-20-2014, 07:05 PM
  # 70 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 177
Maybe I'm currently unable to put my thoughts together correctly. It is all over the place right now. I meant will I be able to handle the stress of losing my house and possibly moving to a new state? I'd have no other place to go and it may be easier to find work there in my field.

Going on a week sober now and this all feels like a bad dream. I suppose the anxiety of not drinking is adding to this growing feeling of hopelessness. You know those dreams that are so vivid you think they were reality for a few seconds?

I keep waiting to wake up. Literally. I keep thinking I'll wake up any day and none of this ever happened. My mind simply can't accept it. I don't want to jump back in the bottle that put me here through my addiction, and that caused so many other problems over the years. That's my main motivation for not doing it. Somehow I need to file my thoughts in the appropriate folders. Maybe I need a shrink. Without insurance that's not happening. Ugh...sorry for venting.
PolarBlue is offline  
Old 09-20-2014, 08:14 PM
  # 71 (permalink)  
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 349
PolarBlue, you said: I meant will I be able to handle the stress of losing my house and possibly moving to a new state? Slow down a little bit maybe? Didn't this just happen? Your not going to lose your house and everything that fast. Focus on today, not all this stuff that may or may not happen in the future.

If I were you, I would focus on filing for unemployment, THEN, if you don't get it, try Plan B. But I think you are just getting way too far ahead of yourself.

Breathe a little. Meditate. Calm. You can get through this.

Cecilia44 is offline  
Old 09-20-2014, 08:18 PM
  # 72 (permalink)  
Administrator
 
Dee74's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,044
I meant will I be able to handle the stress of losing my house and possibly moving to a new state? I'd have no other place to go and it may be easier to find work there in my field
.

I recently had to move to a new town. It was stressful sure, but I didn't have to resort to drinking to get through it.

I know I have several years of experience on you with this - but the basic fact holds true for both of us - we do not 'need' to drink - for any reason...ever.

thats just your AV messin' with ya

D
Dee74 is offline  
Old 09-20-2014, 08:36 PM
  # 73 (permalink)  
Guest
 
3arai's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Seattle
Posts: 70
PB,

Why not reach for the best possible outcome? I can see you're catastrophizing and stressing yourself out!

Maybe stop worrying about the unemployment laws for this second. What if you don't even need that unemployment check?

You're going to have enough money to cover the next few months. There's no reason to believe you'll lose anything. You can handle this.

It might be a good idea to find someone who works as a headhunter, a resume service, and interview coach. I'm sure this kind of service(s) has a more official name. Find someone with good references. You're going to need some help navigating upcoming job interviews, so get that help! Yes, it can be done! I know this is frightening but there are people who manage to finesse an interview even with a criminal record or ten year employment gap. It can be done. YOU can do this.

If it takes a little bit to find a job in your field at your usual rate of pay, what are some plan B's for money? For example, I have waitressed, worked as a nanny/babysitter, run a carpool for the college kids in my apartment complex. These are jobs I can get quickly. Can you make a list of jobs you could get right away? Do you have a spare room for taking in a roommate?

I hope you take this in the spirit it is intended. It's not legal advice. I have no idea if your previous employer did everything 100% perfect in regard to your termination, but clearly you were noticeably drunk at work, so they let you go. Would you feel better simply putting it squarely in the past and deciding to move forward?

I think it's pretty typical of later stage alcoholism to be pretty sloshed and think *nobody knows, I have got this so covered*
That's how people get DUI's and stuff. Don't beat yourself up. You're hardly the first person to lose a job over drinking. The most important thing is that you stop, and take steps to stay quit.
This is a very vulnerable time for you so take care of yourself.
3arai is offline  
Old 09-20-2014, 08:59 PM
  # 74 (permalink)  
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Earth
Posts: 607
I would file for the unemployment first. In my state when you are denied and file an appeal they offer you free legal help. Not sure about Maryland. It's along story but when I was drunk and job hopping the free lawyers won my appeal on a technicality.
In a right to work state you can be terminated for any reason but (at least in my state) if it is not considered misconduct you qualify for benefits. If they didn't offer to send your sample to another lab you may have a case.

All that being said you were drunk on the job. This problem has to be priority one or it or something worse will happen. I could give you my list but I don't have that much time.

If you own your house and can't pay your mortgage, it usually takes more than a year to get booted. Not suggesting you don't pay the mortgage but..

Focus on being clean and take the rest as it comes. Overwhelming as it might seem, there is light at the end of the tunnel. With a clear head you might actually see it.

As much as it pains me to say this. With no income you may qualify for free Obamacare.
esinger is offline  
Old 09-20-2014, 09:03 PM
  # 75 (permalink)  
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: in the city by the bay
Posts: 605
Hi PolarBlue,

Very hard to concentrate on sobriety with all the other issues. No, I don't think I would feel the need to inform any employer proactively that I was sacked due to intoxication. Not if you need a job yesterday. Concentrate on getting a job. If you can attend AA fine. Or just come here a lot. When I first came here, I was here all the time. So much so, my husband got jealous but it helped. Now I exercise 3 times a day and shuttle kids around, so not here much anymore, but it did help.

My cousin lost everything to alcohol. The career she loved and the house her father built and left her, she had to sell it to pay legal fees when she sued her company (a BIG airline) and failed. I don't know where she is and it's heartbreaking.

You can turn your life around at this point. Don't even think of alcohol, just think about working and think positively.

OMG I am going to sound really corny - but I bought 2 Chicken Soup books recently when I was in Rite-Aid (a drugstore)...one on exercise and one on happiness. I haven't read the happiness one yet and have barely read the exercise one - but it got me going. I quit with my 100 excuses and just started doing the work. I go to the gym, I go to Jazzercise, I go to Bikram yoga - I went today and almost passed out, it's been too long and I just wasn't up to the 100-plus heat...

My point is, so much is mental. Like me not getting to the gym. Just reading how Turkey opened it's borders today to Syrian Kurds made me so happy. People can endure a lot.

I can't count how many times my mother almost lost her home. It was awful and she was always working - rarely unemployed - but raising 3 girls by herself was daunting. Try as hard as you can and make an effort to make payments, even if they are partial.

Just don't drink. My mother never drank, not once.

Sometimes I had to go in to school with a note from my mom saying she couldn't pay for a field trip until her next paycheck. It was embarrassing.

I don't know about legal things. My husband is a lawyer, he doesn't work in employment law though, but I would say if they have proof you drank on job there isn't much recourse. Of course, I don't know what you do for a living and that makes a difference. If you need to evacuate an airplane in an emergency or inject the correct amount of morphine to a patient - yes, being sober is crucial. My only other job was working as a preschool teacher. All 3 occupations I had needed someone with all capacities. My drinking has always correlated with having a baby, so I wasn't working at the time thank goodness.

Just focus right now on what you need, a job. Go for a walk or a run when you feel stressed.

Just skipping around - as far as the way they tested you - well I think you can always refuse to be tested. You can refuse any test so far as I know. Just for future reference, and I hope it never happens again, but no one can force you to submit to a urine test.

You can refuse any medication a doctor says you need. A doctor can say you need this and that test and you can say no. A patient has a "right to refuse medical treatment".

But the point is, you agreed to be tested and it's water under the bridge at this point. You just need to deal with the cards you have now.
soberjuly is offline  
Old 09-20-2014, 09:40 PM
  # 76 (permalink)  
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Kokomo, Indiana
Posts: 19
Originally Posted by wpainterw View Post
They call that the "geographical cure." Problem is that alcoholism is a very portable disease As far as sobriety goes, moving changes nothing. However, if moving is the only possible way to keep things together then it's an option, but don't kid yourself. If you got a job in another state and didn't remain sober, the illness of alcoholism would continue to progress and you'd eventually be fired all over again. Moving may tend to strengthen denial and postpone recovery or prevent it altogether. It's an option of last resort which has substantial risks. It's far better to stay put and work out some temporary means to put food on the table, etc.

W
Hi Polarblue. Take a deep breath and slow down some. I hope you dont take this wrong: There is a lot of good advice for you here. I'm gonna join the majority and tell you to concentrate on YOU first and try to get a handle on getting serious about some kind of treatment and try to make a level-headed plan. But i mainly commented becsuse I want you to know about how the "geographical cure" worked for me. It didn't. Not the 1st time nor any other of the several that I tried every few months/years afterwards. My problem was that every time I moved, I concentrated on the false idea of a "fresh start.". That doesn't come by loading up and going where nobdy knows about our incidents. I could tell you about several places that I went and started well, but eventually let my addictions out and created more incidents. That became a viscious cycle until I quit running and started the work on a real "fresh start" in & for myself. I wish you thevery best and look forwrd to hearing your progress reports.
Finrod is offline  
Old 09-21-2014, 03:01 AM
  # 77 (permalink)  
Member
 
wpainterw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,550
I agree with Dee when he said that what you're experiencing right now is that your AV is messing with you, trying to divert your attention from the one thing you should be focussing on. Sobriety. It's hard to do that. The pull of alcohol is very strong but until you are able to tell your AV to shut up, or until you are able to ignore it, it's going to continue to create enormous risks that you will resume drinking. "To handle stress just for a little while" your AV will try to tell you. "Just one or two drinks because the stress of not drinking is so bad." And the whole nasty business will start all over again and you will be drinking, losing jobs, etc. as before, probably worse. Starting to climb the mountain is really tough at the beginning but unless you can keep your focus on that it won't work. It gets better later on. The road up get's easier. Less risky.


W.
wpainterw is offline  
Old 09-21-2014, 08:25 AM
  # 78 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 177
Originally Posted by esinger View Post
I would file for the unemployment first. In my state when you are denied and file an appeal they offer you free legal help. Not sure about Maryland. It's along story but when I was drunk and job hopping the free lawyers won my appeal on a technicality.
In a right to work state you can be terminated for any reason but (at least in my state) if it is not considered misconduct you qualify for benefits. If they didn't offer to send your sample to another lab you may have a case.

All that being said you were drunk on the job. This problem has to be priority one or it or something worse will happen. I could give you my list but I don't have that much time.

If you own your house and can't pay your mortgage, it usually takes more than a year to get booted. Not suggesting you don't pay the mortgage but..

Focus on being clean and take the rest as it comes. Overwhelming as it might seem, there is light at the end of the tunnel. With a clear head you might actually see it.

As much as it pains me to say this. With no income you may qualify for free Obamacare.
Thanks everyone for the advice/support. I'm just looking for some way to ease the anxiety a bit.

In regards to this post, if I didn't receive from the employer what was required by law, the reason for termination can't be listed as "misconduct" or "gross misconduct". So I may qualify for unemployment (if needed) and it may make it easier to find another job.

No backup plans right now as far as that goes. Just selling things on ebay as I wait for my PIN number to arrive in the mail to get the other funds. I hope to go to the local AA meeting Thursday. Do you usually have to call first or just show up? Not doing bad right now as far as urges go, all things considering. I know I'd feel even worse after drinking again, physically and mentally. And guilty over wasting money that I'll need for important things.
PolarBlue is offline  
Old 10-03-2014, 10:41 AM
  # 79 (permalink)  
My brain is trying to kill me
 
breath's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Palo Alto, ca
Posts: 401
AA isn't really a treatment program IMHO; it's a way of life and Recovery management. I have come to think of the 'treatment program' I was in, intensive outpatient treatment(IOP) as what GOT me sober; and although for me AA is a now very 'passive' in my recovery, part of what KEEPS me sober. AA and a lot of other things, THis Site, Meditation, Journaling, Spirituality Practices....
breath is offline  
Old 10-03-2014, 10:53 AM
  # 80 (permalink)  
Member
 
Hobbers's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 444
Do not tell any employer/potential employee. That is crazy-talk.

As a manager, and a (former/recovering) drunk, I can agree with the earlier poster- In a way, I am a total hypocrite, but it generally holds true. I would have a very hard time trusting a person like me (odd, right?) to never ever slip, and worse, possibly in front of a client/co-worker/MY boss. I may never ever slip, but I wouldn't trust that if I wasn't me, and even then, I don't know how much I could count on myself (let alone a stranger), lol.

As others have said, AA is not 'treatment'. It's support, which is different. I am finishing 7 weeks of IOP treatment myself, which then shifts into Non-intensive treatment after that for 13 weeks. Give that a hot maybe?

Bottom line, do something that YOU think will be helpful for YOU. This is YOUR problem, and YOUR sobriety- not mine.

Welcome, buddy- this is a good place, with good people.
Hobbers is offline  

Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off




All times are GMT -7. The time now is 04:06 PM.