Company Policy

[samb]

At the company I work for, my supervisor was terminated. He scraped a company vehicle on guide post and was by policy drug tested. He tested positive for codeine. They gave him another chance to drug test, and he tested positive for codeine again. Come to find out, he was taking cough syrup for a cold that contained the codeine, but he didnt have a prescription. What he had was a cold and an old bottle of cough syrup. He is about 55. He was not taking it to get high. He was not high on the stuff when he scraped the company vehicle. But, due to company policy, he had to be terminated. I understand that at the workplace, there is a zero tolerance for drugs, but come on... Is this fair, or is it just another example of a failing society?

[jacksfull]

Any chance they were just looking for an excuse to fire him while avoiding consequences to the company?

Otherwise, I agree. There is not enough common sense being used in today's world. Zero tolerance means no wiggle-room, when maybe there should be.

[Morientes50]

I don't know about a failing society but we are over regulated. Nobody believes in the old expression "sh** happens" any more. Everything now is done out of fear of law suits. Somebody falls and breaks their leg and now every company has to have a new policy. Somebody gets drunk and hurts a customer and now every employee needs to be tested for intoxicants.

It used to be assumed that reasonable people could come together and redress the wrong without courts and lawsuits. But that common sense is dead. so now companies try to avoid even the appearance of wrong doing. It sucks.

And don't get me started on the media. Some stupid kid dies of snorting paste or something and now every person needs to learn about the dangers. What ever happened to common sense? America is not very zen, that's for sure. It over analyzes everything.

[riderpride]

How long was he working there? I'm not sure about employment law in the States, but it would be a trip to councelling and perhaps even detox if the same thing happened up here.

[ChanceSchmerr]

Some stupid kid dies of snorting paste or something and now every person needs to learn about the dangers. What ever happened to common sense? America is not very zen, that's for sure. It over analyzes everything.

Bang on. I hate the over-emphasis on safety and protection today. I may be 25, but I can tell you that it seems a lot tougher to have fun as a kid these days than it did even 15-20 years ago. Everything is safety, safety, helmet this, lifejacket that, it is insane!

George Carlin said it best - "It used to be that the kid who ate too many marbles, didnt grow up to have kids of his own!"

We are robbing our society of natural selection by protecting every last life and its a little sickening. Life is supposed to have a little danger, a little risk. Stop the overprotection! And have some damn common sense too!

[Jesuscookies]

I hate to be the contraian here, but seriously, the guy got a second chance to test and still failed?

Codeine has a half life of about 24 hours. Why did he not stop using the stuff? Did he not know there was codeine in the cs? If I failed a drug test the first thing I would have done after failing is take a look at "EVERYTHING" I was ingesting. Had he not used the cough syrup for a day he probably would have tested clean.

For the other poster who made a comment about darwin and natural selection, this appears to be just that.

[LeafLover]

At the company I work for, my supervisor was terminated. He scraped a company vehicle on guide post and was by policy drug tested. He tested positive for codeine. They gave him another chance to drug test, and he tested positive for codeine again. Come to find out, he was taking cough syrup for a cold that contained the codeine, but he didnt have a prescription. What he had was a cold and an old bottle of cough syrup. He is about 55. He was not taking it to get high. He was not high on the stuff when he scraped the company vehicle. But, due to company policy, he had to be terminated. I understand that at the workplace, there is a zero tolerance for drugs, but come on... Is this fair, or is it just another example of a failing society?

That blows! But, being an employer I see the liability in allowing an employee to continue to work after a failed drug test, much less two. Either way, I know the employer's hands are tied and really is terrible for the employee. Never ever a good thing to be without a job.

[audio1der]

Sounds as if they wanted to get rid of him if they didn't send him for drug councilling. Maybe not in a "we need to can that guy" way, but maybe it was an opportunity to downsize, etc. Who knows? We certainly never will.

I've not been through it at work, but we've (management) been trained on what the process is, and that process seems very standard.

My $.02

[rcsims]

Depending on what state you live in, he may be able to fight it pretty easily. I am a pharmacist in Kansas. In KS, cough syrup that contains codeine can be purchased without a prescription by signing for it at the pharmacy counter. This method is not used a lot and definately not publicized, due to hassels to the pharmacists and abuse potential.

Tough to say how this would work out in court, but it may be worth it for him to talk to a lawyer. On the other hand, a failed test is a failed test.

[samb]

I hate to be the contraian here, but seriously, the guy got a second chance to test and still failed?

Codeine has a half life of about 24 hours. Why did he not stop using the stuff? Did he not know there was codeine in the cs? If I failed a drug test the first thing I would have done after failing is take a look at "EVERYTHING" I was ingesting. Had he not used the cough syrup for a day he probably would have tested clean.

For the other poster who made a comment about darwin and natural selection, this appears to be just that.

Not a problem at all, I want to know peoples' opinions on the matter. I can understand it from the standpoint of management. Its policy they just did what they had to do. But I dont think that makes it morally right. The guy probably didnt realize that there was codeine in it. Hes not what I would call stupid or slow, but hes a bit of a country bumpkin, lol, he doesnt text, or really surf the net, hes just not too technically advanced I guess. So my thinking is that he simply didnt realize there was codeine in it. I believe that told him about his first positive and had him retest the next day, but he had already taken the cs at a late enough time that he would still test positive.

[samb]

Sounds as if they wanted to get rid of him if they didn't send him for drug councilling. Maybe not in a "we need to can that guy" way, but maybe it was an opportunity to downsize, etc. Who knows? We certainly never will.

I've not been through it at work, but we've (management) been trained on what the process is, and that process seems very standard.

My $.02

This may have been the case. My company recently went through bout of lay-offs and I could see it as an excuse to downsize, but not because of his performance. He had been there for about 7 yrs I think, but thats a long time for the department that we work in. Also, per our drug policy, if one fails a random drug test, the director of that department has the power to put the employee in drug counseling and not fire them.

[cgarner]

THats a raw deal. One can only assume he didn't know codeine was in the cough syrup. Does he have any options to appeal?

[anacostiakat]

Heavyhanded. Does make you wonder why he wasnt offered couseling.

On the other hand I agree that if you flunk one test you aught to be checking yourself.