Court rules drunk worker should be reinstated

Court rules drunk worker should be reinstated
 
Created on Thursday, 01 August 2013 17:51

A waste management company has been forced to reinstate a worker who was fired for being drunk at work.

The company based near Oporto will appeal the court ruling, considering it "surreal" and the boss of 'Greendays,' Almiro Oliveira, said he is "truly surprised and troubled" by the decision of the Court of Appeal of Oporto, and will "do everything" so as not to reinstate the employee. It is common sense, he argues.

Back in February the garbage truck that they worked in crashed and the driver and the employee concerned were taken to the hospital where they both were found to be drunk.

The driver who also has been sacked had a blood alcohol level of 1.79 grammes per litre. The worker, an immigrant from Eastern Europe sported a reading of 2.3 grammes per litre.

The Court of Appeal said that with alcohol, the employee in question can forget his hardships and enjoy the immense diversity of life, the public served may find that the worker is very productive and happy, in fact an excellent and quick worker."

Following this philosophical interpretation of the downtrodden worker’s role amid the tribulations of life, and the misuse of legal drugs at work, the panel of judges instructed the employer Greendays to reinstate the worker.

The company management has had a degree of difficulty in understanding the finer points of this decision, "It would be absurd to reinstate a worker who is drunk every day, jeopardising his own safety and that of colleagues," said a bemused Almiro Oliveira, who ranks the judges' decision a as "ridiculous, absurd and surreal."


The administrator of Greendays reckons the judges showed poor judgment and professional ethics. "How could a company function if 200 employees walked in drunk?"

http://algarvedailynews.com/news/10477-court-rules-drunk-worker-should-be-reinstated