Fired for being drunk on the job

THE Industrial Court has upheld the decision of the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (TTEC) to fire an employee who, inspite of repeated warnings and suspensions, continued to be under the influence of alcohol while on duty. Edward Atherton, a TTEC linesman with 18 years service was dismissed in August 2000.

The Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union took up the matter and subsequently submitted it as a dispute to the Industrial Court. The court learnt that on Friday, August 18, 2000, Atherton was sent for a basic drug test which confirmed that his blood alcohol level was at 2.8 times the cut-off value. The incident leading to Atherton’s dismissal occurred on the morning of August 18, 2000, when the worker was assigned to a streetlighting crew sent out to do repair work on the Churchill Roosevelt Highway.

According to a report, when the crew reached the work site, the way in which Atherton walked on the median, and the argumentative tone in which he spoke were of such concern to the crew foreman that he contacted his superiors by radio and got their permission to return to the Commission’s compound without commencing work. The worker  was left there and the rest of the crew returned to the work site. He was warned that the seriousness of this offence was further emphasised by the fact that the nature of his job as a linesman, required him to exercise maximum safety consciousness at all times. He was advised to take a much more serious view of his life’s goals.