Substance Abuse-Related Disabilities

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An employee who was allegedly fired for refusing to admit he had a substance abuse problem presented sufficient evidence to advance his claim under the “regarded as” prong of the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to a Massachusetts federal court. The employer denied terminating the employee or demanding that he admit having a substance abuse…

An employee terminated immediately upon his return from medical leave for alcohol rehabilitation presented sufficient evidence of discrimination under the Family and Medical Leave Act, Americans with Disabilities Act and Ohio state law to present his case to a jury, according to a federal court in Ohio. The employer claimed that the employee had been…

In the last three years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed numerous lawsuits against employers who take adverse actions against applicants and employees who use prescription medications. In accordance with that trend, EEOC filed suit on November 3, 2015 against an employer who purportedly refused to hire a recovering drug addict using methadone, alleging…

During a visit to the state of West Virginia on October 21, 2015, President Obama addressed the country’s growing prescription drug abuse and heroin epidemic by announcing several efforts to address these issues.

The President’s actions focus on the increase in heroin-related overdoses in recent years – which nearly doubled between 2011 and 2013. According…

A Texas oil refinery whose substance abuse policy said an employee “whose drug test is positive, regardless of the reasons for the test,” would be considered in violation of company policy and “will be terminated from employment” meant what it said, a labor arbitrator has concluded. The policy, along with an agreement requiring that an…

The National Safety Council (“NSC”) has published a report entitled Prescription Pain Medications: A Fatal Cure For Injured Workers, urging employers to educate employees about the dangers of using opioid pain medications – such as addiction and death – while also taking steps to avoid potential liability in workers’ compensation and personal injury litigation.

The…

A Minnesota resident lost his bid to show that state laws and rules under which he lost driving privileges due to several driving-while-impaired (DWI) offenses gave rise to violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The federal court of appeals in St. Louis affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of his complaint for failing to…

Workplace-related alcohol and drug abuse continues to plague many American industries, according to a recently published government report.

Heavy alcohol use among full-time workers in the U.S. aged 18 to 64 reached 17.5% in the mining industry and 16.5% in the construction industry, (the highest of any industries), data from 2008 through 2012 showed, according…

A federal district court dismissed the discrimination claims of an alcoholic individual who claimed that his former employer refused to rehire him after he completed alcohol rehabilitation. Alexander v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, No. 12-cv-1959 (D.D.C. March 10, 2015).

Alexander was a former employee of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (“WMATA”) who suffered…