Ibanez wrote:css75 wrote:
Ok, let’s try this. A person smokes their daily doobiie before work and he has been an excellent worker. Then one day after a couple years on the job he is involved in a major accident, a co-worker is killed and others injured. He is tested and it returns positive for marijuana. Do you not think the owner of the company is in deep doo doo?
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In your hypothetical - I don't know. Is an employer in trouble when an employee is involved in a major accident and the guy has a lot of prescription drugs in his system which might have affected their ability to drive?
It's funny - some of you appear to be so anti-Marijuana but i'd be willing to bet y'all are the first to take what ever prescription drugs the doctor says. Drugs that overtime will destroy your liver or blood vessels (for instance).
Marijuana - naturally occurring plant = EVIL
Lipitor/Viagra/Ritalin/Adderall - created in a lab = Perfectly acceptable
How many lives has Adderall negatively affected?
- Spoiler: show
- Spoiler: show
- And if you can't see the hyperbole in that - then we don't need to have this discussion.
Trouble? Legally? I'm sure that an innocent employee injured by the accident could sue the company if enough safeguards were not put in place. And by safeguards, I mean several things, 1) physical barriers, 2) enough proper training, 3) alcohol/drug policy enforcement, etc.
At the very least, there is a cost for dealing with the incident, 1) investigation, 2) meetings with OSHA, 3) worker's comp costs, 4) need for additional physical barriers to be installed, 5) need to revise/augment training, 6) private investigator cost for monitoring worker that says they are not able to work, 7) schedule adjustments for lost employees likely resulting in overtime pay, 8) lost production time, 9) OSHA fines, etc. etc. etc.
Injuries can be very costly for companies.
Side note:
The private investigator thing can result in some wild findings. I remember a woman that slipped on a wet floor and hurt her back and leg. She was offered to work at a desk while she recovered. She claimed that she was unable to sit comfortably so she stayed home (resulting in a "lost time" case). PI monitored her and took video of her driving home one day and making 3 trips from the car to the house carrying groceries. She was well enough to drive, shop for groceries, carry them in the house, and put them away, but could not sit in a chair comfortably. Yeah, she was fired and had to deal with fraud charges.
One guy was monitored and was found to be banging a neighbor at her house. No crutches or neck brace were used on his walks to and from there. No limp either. The dude's wife wasn't happy to find out.