What happens when a worker has a history of alcohol abuse and gets hurt on the job—or worse, killed—while intoxicated. Is the employer liable? A Texas court recently had to rule on this topic.
Here’s what happened. Clark had a long history of DWI convictions and had done prison time. He applied for a job that required him to drive a company vehicle.
The company performed a background check but went back only 3 years, so it failed to show his DWI convictions. He was hired.
Unbeknownst to the company, Clark’s license was suspended because he had been arrested for another DWI in December 2007. He continued to drive without a license.
In 2008, while driving a company truck, he ran off the road and was killed. An autopsy revealed his blood alcohol level was .344 percent.
Clark’s estate sued, alleging the employers acted with “conscious indifference” toward his well-being and “ignored their own internal policies” prohibiting the use of alcohol on the job. The trial court threw the case out, and the appeals court said it was right to do so. Let’s talk about why.
The court boiled it down to the following question: “Does an employer owe a duty to prevent [its] employee from injuring himself through his own intoxicated driving of a company vehicle during a lunch break?” The answer? No.
Read a full analysis of the case on HR.BLR.com.