Quebec trucking company ordered to reinstate driver fired for drinking and driving

A Quebec trucking company has been ordered to reinstate a driver who was fired after she drank at least nine beers before she lost control of her truck on a Pennsylvania highway.

Labour arbitrator Huguette April says the driver’s drinking was from alcoholism — a disability — and that trucking company Groupe Robert should have made a reasonable accommodation for her.

The woman was fired after she was involved in a single-vehicle crash on June 30, 2022, which damaged the truck but caused no injuries.

The arbitrator’s written decision dated July 18 says the driver told her employer about her alcoholism about a week after the crash and that she sought medical help to quit drinking.

She told the arbitrator that the company could have installed an alcohol testing device in her truck after the crash, or found other work for her.

Groupe Robert told the arbitrator that the employee had violated the collective agreement, which stipulated that truck drivers who drank on the job would be fired.

– This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 31, 2023.