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October 12 2017

Supreme court of Canada upholds dismissal of cocaine addicted worker

The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed an appeal regarding a case where an employee was terminated for using cocaine on his days off, was involved in an accident in the workplace, and tested positive for cocaine.
 
The employer said the employee was terminated not because of his addiction, but rather his breach of the company's drug abuse policy (failure to disclose an addiction). While the employee was able to establish that he had a disability that was protected, he failed to establish that the disability was a factor in his termination.
 
The Court said that where there is the opportunity to voluntarily disclose an addiction and receive treatment, employees who hide an addiction will be held accountable for putting themselves and their co-workers at risk.