Excessive drinking deemed inadequate grounds for dismissal

Excerpts from a report in The Guardian:

A Spanish court has ruled that a company was wrong to fire an electrician who may have drunk more than three litres of beer in one day because it had not proved that his consumption had left him “inebriated, intoxicated or drunk”, or unable to do his job.

The man, who had worked for the company for 27 years, was sacked in September 2021 after a private detective hired by his employers followed him and his company van over the course of a few days that July.

The [dismissal] letter informed the man he was being sacked for “repeated and excessive alcohol consumption during the working day, which endangered his physical wellbeing and that of his workmates” both while on the job and at the wheel of his company vehicle.

The court, however, found the company’s actions ill-founded.

“At no time did the private detective make mentions of signs of inebriation or clumsiness when it came to walking,” it said in its judgment.

“Neither has it been proved, even circumstantially, that his physical and mental faculties were reduced or diminished during his tasks as an electrician, nor that he was impeded when he drove the company van at the end of the working day.”

The court added: “Another factor to be borne in mind is that this relates to the month of July in Murcia and Cartagena, where the climatic conditions and the geographical habits should be considered.”