She was fired for drinking on the job, then she almost killed someone
Story from “This is Trus” by Randy Cassingham, with his “tagline:”
“WE DELIVER: A woman drove her car through the front window of Papa Murphy’s Pizza in Carson City, Nev., hitting a customer who was reading the menu. She then backed out and drove off, witnesses say, and then crashed broadside into another car. After she left that accident, too, police say, a passenger decided she had enough and bailed out of the car, rolling to a stop in a parking lot. Police finally pulled the car over and Nicole Andrews, 23, blew a blood alcohol reading of .264 percent — more than three times the legal limit. “Please don’t let this go on my insurance,” she begged of the officer when she heard the reading. “I’ll be in a lot of trouble.” She was charged with felony hit-and-run causing injury, drunk driving, and other charges. A Papa Murphy’s spokesman said he knows Andrews — she used to work at the store she crashed into. But, Donn Leyba said, he had to fire her – ‘for drinking on the job.’ (Nevada Appeal)… Sometimes they really do return to the scene of the crime.”
Those who fail to grasp the fundamentals of alcoholism cannot be expected to forge the link between drinking on the job and almost killing someone. The trouble is, we cannot predict how destructive an alcoholic may become or the degree of pain she must experience before making a decision to try sobriety. One of the challenges in imposing the requisite pain, however, could be limitations on the employer. Sometimes they don’t want the publicity and let the employee “resign.” Even when firing someone, employers are reluctant to inform other employers who call for references, at best responding to any queries with a statement for which they cannot be sued for defamation: “We wouldn’t hire her again.” We don’t do anyone else favors by keeping quiet about the reason, which only allows the disease to progress from bad to worse and which also allows the addict to continue to inflict harm on others. One thing employers might try, however, is to say, “We wouldn’t hire her again. By the way, you might want to read Doug Thorburn’s book, How to Spot Hidden Alcoholics.
(Story and tagline from “This is True,” copyright 2007 by Randy Cassingham, used with permission.)