Should I be held liable for driving my drunk co-worker to work (employment, employer)
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So I have a co worker whom I take to work and back to his home. We work as overnight stockers at K Mart.
Last night he had gotten drunk at a party at his home right before I arrived to pick him up. I couldnt smell any alcohol on him but he told me he was drunk. We get to work and I guess other co workers noticed and reported him to our manager who then told him to leave. I think he may have been fired as well.
My question is should I be or feel responsible in anyway for what happened? I didnt ask him to get out of my car or tried to talk him out of working. To be honest, this wasnt the first time he's gone to work drunk and nothing came of it so I thought it would be the same.
Should I expect my managers to have a talk with me about what happened last night or even be written up or fired? Im pretty sure they know Im his ride to work and as such should have known that he was drunk.
As a manager the only time I would hold you responsible for something like this was if you know he was drunk and you allowed him, by not reporting him, to violate safety policies.
If he uses a forklift or electric pallet jack I would be all over you, most likely firing you. If he cuts himself with a box-cutter, you probably get a warning.
It doesn't have anything to with giving him a ride, it has to do with allowing unsafe work practices.
As a manager the only time I would hold you responsible for something like this was if you know he was drunk and you allowed him, by not reporting him, to violate safety policies.
If he uses a forklift or electric pallet jack I would be all over you, most likely firing you. If he cuts himself with a box-cutter, you probably get a warning.
It doesn't have anything to with giving him a ride, it has to do with allowing unsafe work practices.
Well, he wasnt using any pallet jacks last night or injured himself or anyone else. So I guess I should be good?
Well, he wasnt using any pallet jacks last night or injured himself or anyone else. So I guess I should be good?
I can't speak definitively for your boss, but you are probably good. I would probably growl at you for driving an obviously inebriated person to work and not reporting him, but I wouldn't hold one instance against you.
Should I expect my managers to have a talk with me about what happened last night or even be written up or fired? Im pretty sure they know Im his ride to work and as such should have known that he was drunk.
Up until today I would say so long as you don't admit to knowing the person was "drunk", you should be safe, but now, I would be more concern about your friend coming back to try and sue you for allowing him to report drunk to work. Read this is you really want to see how a person attempts to evade personable responsibility by blaming others for their termination: https://www.city-data.com/forum/work-...can-my-ex.html
NO!!! I'm assuming he's an adult and therefore responsible for his own actions. Your employer can't do a thing about you driving him to work and unless you're his boss, it's also not your responsibility to tell his supervisor you think he's drunk.
Now.....as a friend (as you must be on some level if you're diving him to work) you should have told him that he probably shouldn't go to work if he's been drinking. AND I probably would tell him he needs to find a different ride to work from now on.
Last edited by CGab; 11-05-2016 at 06:02 PM..
Reason: Add
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