When I worked Armored, one of our guys who had a Class B drivers license knew that he was going to be tested when he went in to renew his license on Monday, and yet the dumbass apparently toked up over the weekend while out deer hunting with his brother. Of course, he tested positive and was fired on the spot.
About 25 years ago a computer operator I worked with was sent in for a drug test because of missing work and erratic behavior. Tested positive for cocaine and was to be fired, but somehow pulled something off that allowed him to keep his job if he went into rehab. The oddest thing was that, a few short months after coming back to work, he was given a promotion and a rather substantial (like 30-40%) raise. I will say that he and I worked later hours when most of the people were gone and, after he came back, he spent a lot of time peppering me with questions about programming, JCL and the like and did pick up a lot of good knowledge from me and others in that time.
20 years ago worked with a different computer operator who routinely reeked of booze and was eventually fired for it. Why it took so long, I have no idea.
Unfortunately, it’s not like she was popping valium and nodding off at her desk. It’s a busy animal ER, and she was a Vet Tech - even went to school and passed her boards and was waiting for her certification. It’s part of why it was such a pain to have to check her work all the time, she would be working on a patient’s chart and have to come find/interrupt me to re-calculate all her doses and make sure she wasn’t fucking up their pain meds and antibiotics, many of which, if overdosed, can cause serious problems if not death by being off by one decimal point.
I think the hospital would have a liability issue if it was revealed a tech who made a serious mistake was under the influence of a controlled drug, even if it was a legal Rx.
I’ll have to ask my husband about this when he gets home, since he works in a warehouse. He’s had to take drug tests after mishaps (there’s a damage amount threshold for that, or if someone is injured, which has never happened in one of his). Since he doesn’t use anything illegal (and is very careful about OTC stuff that could affect his performance), doesn’t drink, and even avoids poppyseed baked goods, his tests always come back clean.
I once worked for a small wholesale distributing company, doing the clerical work. The shipping guy did come in a few times smelling of alcohol, and somehow I got the heat for screwed-up orders (the guy had a talent for sucking up to the control-freak partner who was there constantly and resented any successor to the person who’d done my job for something like ten years (then had had the good sense to retire and move way out of a reasonable commute range).
Okay enough of this crap. I was in that studio. Within 20 feet of her from 5:00 pm to 2:00 am almost nonstop. I watched her walk, I watched her speak and interact. I was close enough more than once to have smelled booze.
Along with the millions in this country who do NOT live in the public spotlight, she too is allowed to be exhausted, yet required to go to work.