I at one point spoke with my boss about my co-worker and he told me that once you admit your problem and are willing to seek help for yourself, you cannot get fired for that reason by Pennsylvanian law. You would have to check your state law for that. But as mentioned by Hevyn, once out and you do slip badly again, you were given a chance and you blew it, depending on your employer you can get fired. Also if you don't admit your problem they have a right to fire you although you could fight it. Again I'm not an attorney and you need to check your rights. I'm not sure what to tell you about applying for other jobs. That's a tough one. If you weren't long there, maybe you could leave that job out on applications and just mention the ones where you will be getting good references. I do believe the first thing you need to do is work out your problem rather than taking it with you. I'm sure you can do it. Maybe by going to meeting, being on SR - it's free and it works.