Question
What is the name of your state? Arkansas
I have an employee who broke his foot while riding four wheelers on his time off. His foot has not healed for sometime now and he just had surgery for the third time. He has been seen riding his four wheelers again which may be prolonging his injuries. He also has tested positive for methaphetamine three times in the past, which we think is also attributing to his ability to heal. This employee will cost me and my insurance company way more than what he is worth. How do I rid myself of this problem without being considered cold hearted and without being sued. Do I as an employer have any rights.
Paul Gibat
Answer
how long has he been employed? Does he qualify for FMLA and is he taking time off right now?
When he tested positive for drugs before why wasn't he fired? Have you given him notice that if he tests positive for drugs again that he will be let go?
Don't worry about being cold-hearted - you have given this loser too many chances already. Just CYA so you don't get sued. Next time he is scheduled to work, have him take a drug test - and fire him if he fails.
Consider changing your policies so that any drug test failures can result in immediate dismissal.
Answer
And after testing positive for illegal drugs on three occasions he's still employed with you because???
We really need to know whether this employee qualifies for FMLA and how much leave time he's taken in the past 12 months. We also need to know whether he's collecting any sort of disability income benefit from you/your insurance carrier. There's a possibility of pursuing this as a fraud situation if he's riding four wheelers but claiming he's too injured to work.
Answer
Beth is certainly the expert, but I have a question: what freakin' reason would this guy have to sue you? Last I knew, an employer could fire an employee for leaving his shoes untied or anything else the employer does not like. Unless it falls into discrimination categories such as age, sex, race etc. etc. etc. I think lose his sorry butt. lkc15507
Answer
lkc, firing an employee BECAUSE OF his use of the health insurance benefits could well be seen as a public policy violation and thus illegal. It is definitely illegal to term someone who qualifies for FMLA, who has applied and taken FMLA, and who has not yet used it up, unless the firing is completely unrelated to the medical leave (such as the entire department being downsized).
Answer
lkc, firing an employee BECAUSE OF his use of the health insurance benefits could well be seen as a public policy violation and thus illegal. It is definitely illegal to term someone who qualifies for FMLA, who has applied and taken FMLA, and who has not yet used it up, unless the firing is completely unrelated to the medical leave (such as the entire department being downsized).
I don't disagree. But, I don't see that the poster's only reason for losing this guy is BECAUSE OF his use / or even abuse of his health plan. In fact the poster's entire posting seems to be very forgiving. Perhaps the poster wants to be decent and over generous, but, methamphetamine use? Since when will that qualify any one for FMLA? FMLA? Is this birth, adoption, care of an immediate family member with a serious health condition or serious health condition of this loser himself? I think the employer must agree in the first place. My point? Haven't a definite clue from the post whether he did / does qualify for FMLA. (But doesn't sound like it to me.) I will agree that if (not apparent from post) that if this loser is currently qualified for / taking FMLA leave, it may be hard to explain a canning during that time frame (but I've seen it easily done). In any event, I think he can be toast in a heart beat.
Answer
Washington State
I take "adderall" everyday. The generic tablet has "Amphetami salts" on the bottle. I don't know if this would look different on a drug test or not but I would consider it.