suspended from my new job because i am on MMT

['medicine cabinet']

I can honestly say i think this is my first time posting in TDS but i dont know where else to put this....

So long story short, i am on MMT and have been so for the past year. and before that i was on suboxone for 2 years. before that i was ripping and running jamming dope in my arm however i could....not to mention living on the street, being evil and all around junkie behavior.

I have really turned my life around and was able to gain some stability by going on maint, it was the best thing i have ever done. For about the past 4 years, i was working at a health club at the front desk and within a year i was assistant manager of the entire club with about 6 ppl working underneath me.

The owner of the company and my boss were both total dickheads and when they found out about my past drug problems they didnt treat me the same and eventually fired me for some BS reason of being late to a meeting...which sounded like an excuse.

I was upset about it, i felt like i had really been doing well, i hadnt fallen back into any bad habits and i still lost my job.

So fast forward a few months, i interviewed with a very large TV company based near where i live for an entry level position pretty much scheduling commercials for local TV and filling airtime with as many paid ads as i could.

I ended up making it thru 3 interviews and then they called to offer me the job. i was so pumped i couldnt believe i had landed the job. i thought with my not so stellar work history and just average references they would have chosen one of the other 20 ppl that they interviewed for the job.

i knew i would have to take a drug test but after talking to my drug counselor at the methadone clinic, he said they usually dont test for methadone and you dont have to tell them you are on methadone....

He was wrong on both counts.....

I just started last monday too.... and today, after a full week of working there i get called in the HR office to find out they found metadone and pot in my system. i was totally surprised about the pot since i had quit smoking a while ago, also it says on my treatment plan that i am in treatment for smoking pot as well.

I made it through all the interviews, they thought i was a good fit, i have been working there for a week and now they tell me the fact i am on methadone and in drug treatment is going to get me fired.

they told me i am suspended without pay until i can get documentation to "prove my case" and that they are worried how it might effect my work and also that they have to worry about the other ppl i work with...basically they have to cover their ass and i get that. the worst thing is they made me leave in the middle of the day and now i know word will get out even though they said it wouldnt leave the room.

I told them i used to have a drug problem and that i am intreatment and have been for the past year. I think they are stalling by saying i am suspended sintead of really fired because they need to get with their legal department to make sure they can fire me without fear of a discrimination lawsuit.

when they asked about the pot i said i used to smoke but i quit when i went to look for a job, i am being very honest with them and i told them that my drug use history is something i am ashamed of and i dont want ppl to think poorly of me....and.

i am thinking about calloing the maryland ACLU and seeing what is what...

had i not tested pos for pot i would still be in the same position. they would want proof of me being on treatment. This is all so fucked up....i really liked this job too. it was with a company that has great benefits, i had a nice desk with two big comp monitors....

i guess if anyone has any personal experience with something like this, id like to hear what you did and what happened....

because right now it looks like i am going to be fired because they fucked up. they let me start working without checking my preemployment drug test, and now that they know i am on MMT and in drug treatment, they are going to fire me because i am trying to get help for myself so i can be a better person and work a normal job like everyone else....

 

[Cyc]

As you said, I don't think they can openly discriminate against you for being on MMT. I'd also be skeptical about the pot. They may have thrown that in, to give them some valid clout to fire you with, hinging on the hope that you won't have a lawyer petition the actual lab results. I'm also aware of no law that requires a person to disclose their prescription medication to a potential employer, unless the working conditions are such that certain medications might prove problematic.

I'm actually kind of curious why they even test for methadone, since it's not an illegal substance (just controlled) and I'm doubtful of whether a private employer can force you provide personal medical records as a condition of employment.

I would consider moving this thread to legal discussion. This is a problem that needs a solution, not hand-wringing.

My advice: Ask to see a copy of the lab results for your records. Also, check into the employment laws in your area.

 

[OpiYum]

Perhaps contact Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (my Alma Mater) because 70% before 1994 went on to be labor lawyers; there is a labor law department filled with compassionate professors committed to social justice and knowledgable about employment law with many contacts that could maybe do pro bono work for u. There is also a law school there, but I dont know how many non-financially oriented people with integrity are there.

This may fall under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Act of Rehabilitation because addiction can be viewed as a debilitating "disease" unless treated. I think you have a real case so please please dont give up.

Feel free to PM me. I really want to know how this turns out bc I am afraid for my own pursuance of a teaching career with possession and dwi misdemeanors in 3 states (and arrest warrant- but its a misunderstanding).

Also a good friend in private college was told by his coach that he would be kicked off the team unless he is clean next semester. My friend has legitimate pain and has a methadone script. The coach is requesting extensive paperwork and who knows, maybe even drug testing. Because this is college, is this different than a work place?

Sorry if it seems like I went on a tangent, but they are related in that this world discriminates against and criminalizes "addicts", people who are sick and need to self-medicate out of desperation because tradition meds don't cut it. Work should be about performance not what one puts in their body. Someone who is constantly sleep deprived and stressed may be more of a danger during work than an "addict" who keeps his shit together. (and yes, i believe it is possible for addicts to live long moral and productive lives if society made it legal and were more compassionate like we are to diabetics)

 

[paranoid android]

Check the employment laws where you live. I wouldnt let it go thats for sure.

 

['medicine cabinet']

hey thanks for the replies and encouragement everyone, i appreciate it. So i went and saw my drug counselor at the meth clinic this morning and he wrote me a letter stating when i started on treatment, and that i am a client in good standing and that i am making progress on my treatment plan. He said if they fire me i should contact a lawyer because it would be discrimination under the americans with disabilities act.

i have spent the last day reading everything i can about being in treatment and getting fired from a job because of a previous drug problem. Even he said he was very surprised they tested for methadone....as am i. I get the feeling they said i was suspended just so they could buy some time to contact their legal dept and make sure they can fire with out worry. I am going to make a few calls to the EEOC and the ACLU and also it sounds like cornell might be a good option too...

i will fight this tooth and nail if i have to, they hired me for a reason and it would be discriminatory to fire me because i am in drug treatment. Anyways, if this would be better suited to Legal Q+A im fine with it being moved over there.

thanks guys.

 

[paranoid android]

Fucking fight it to the death man. Ya can't let bosses treat workers like this so if everyone stood up to such bullshit on part of the owners we would all be alot better off in my opinion.

I really hope you win man.

Just ask yourself what would marx do?

 

[cj]

I think the pot will be the issue that may sink your case. they have every right to fire you for the MJ I am suprised they even metioned the methadone there was really no reason too. Like someone else said getting a lawyer to subpena lab results would be my first move.

 

[Herbal~Jah]

Medicine Cabinet, I know you said that you used to live on the street and did heroin and just acted like a typical junkie... but what got you to that point? Also, i never could understand this, but how do you afford a drug habit while be homeless, and to make matters worse your drug is Heroin, the most expensive drug out there i believe.

 

['medicine cabinet']

well, like many others on here it started out with expirimentation with various drugs, weed, alcohol, pills, and when i was 15 i had my wisdom teeth removed the dr gave me an rx for 7.5mg vicodin and up untill then i had never tried pain killers. I soon found that taking two or three times the recomended dose made me feel amazing and what did i know about addiction? i was 15 years old....sadly, i just kept looking for it and kept finding it.

When i was about 18 i had my first oxy 80. at that point i didnt have a habit but i was getting there. I also had never snorted oxy before (well i did snort a percocet when i was younger and stupid) I crushed up the pill and sniffed about a 1/4 of it and was hiiiiiigh as a kite.

I had found it, i had finally found that feelingi was missing for so long. it was contentment. I just started on a downward spiral. I was selling a lot of weed at the time so i was constantly around drugs and drug people. it became my life and it was just a constant party. i was still living at home so i had low overhead.

After a while of living like that my parent got tired of it and threw me out so i moved into an apt with a buddy of mine and he was also into oxy. sooner or later after we were both ripping through hundreds of dollars worth of oxy a week a guy i knew said he could get some amazingly good raw dope. We were interested.

We each bought a 20$ vial and doing a half of it was like doing an 80. it was cheaper plus the high was waaay better. long story short i started snorting as much as i could get. we were moving a fairly large amount of weed every few days so there was always cash around to go and cop. but after a while we would dip into money that really wasnt ours and just say oh well fuck it we can just make it up on the next run, and it never really happened. so after a while my boy cut us off because he felt like dealing with 2 dope addicts was bad for business....and i dont blame him.

it was around this time i started injecting as well, i was 21 i believe. It was cheaper to shoot and the feeling was just too good. It really got the best of me and before i knew it i was selling my guitars and practically anything else i could to get cop money since my drug business was drastically scaled back. andi started selling dope too to my friends that were too scared to go cop themselves. i had 2 connecs, they were both cousins and their whole fam sold dope, i even bought from the one dudes sister once.

the main dude was a mid level dealer who sold weight, showed me a bag with 100 grams in it of grey rocked dope. the entire car reaked like vinegar. he used to hook me up super cheap plus i used to trade him a half o of herb for a gram of dope so he used to hit me up asking if i had any herbt o trade him.

having such a good hookup quickly drained me both financially and physically. i was in poor health, not eating or sleeping well, i started to hang out with some really grungy drug people who were into scramble dope and crack, and i got into that for a while.

when it go so bad i was on the street i was supporting my habit by making deals for other people, plus some things im not too proud of....ripping off dealers, stealing from family and friends. you name it i did it to score money for dope....everything except for tricking myself out lol...never did that one. it sucked, i was either normal or sick as a dog. the only shot i would enjoy was the first one of the morning that set me right...the "gate shot" as they call it.

luckily (or unluckily) in baltimore dope is pretty strong so even if i could get a 20vial i would be ok for the day. i wouldnt feel good, but it would be enough to have me not puking sick. I think there are just way too many factors of how and why i got to that point....i think my demand for it and the easy availability made it that much worse.

going on OMT was the best choice i have ever made....i have finally found that much elusive stability that all junkies seek. just to feel normal and not have to worry about how you will get you next fix, or who you are going to have to fuck over to get what you want....it is a terrible life and i wouldnt wish it on my worse enemy. But i am glad to say i have been making progress. each day i dont fall back to old habits is a good day.

 

[halfoz]

you have two options.

1. cut your losses and move on

2. go on the offensive. contact a lawyer for a free consultation. if he even smells a legitimate case, then i'd march into the HR dept and voice your concern: you feel you are or will be wrongfully terminated due to disability discrimination. then work towards a solution.

bearing in mind, in either option you will have completely obliterated your chance of sustaining a career at this company.

i'm a sr mgr at my company, and am involved in hire/fire actions in coordination with HR all the time. most companies aren't stupid and won't expose themselves to risk. but they will never ever love you, and you will in time be "managed out".

 

[Cyc]

So because he stands up for his rights, he will be "managed out" by petty, sore losers who don't have the balls to voice their opposition to labour laws, but instead sneak around them?

Good to know that ethical, upstanding Americans are making their way to the top of corporate America.

And what say you, halfoz. If this was your company, and someone retained their job due to a human rights complaint, would you condone freezing them out in a different way?

 

[paranoid android]

^ The whole point of the management is to discourage labour rights and promote production as much as possible. They could care less about labour rights and the last thing they want is a worker sticking up for himself because his rights have been violated as is the case here.

I fucking hate management types and think they are the scum of the goddamn earth really and total bastards to boot. These guys are for the most part brown nosers and arselickers for the company and are basically just twats who either had no morals to begin with or have long been ignoring them all in the name of the hope of rising to the top so to speak. They do everything they can to bully employees and fuck them over as much as they can. All the time trying to maximize production, not only ignore but outright break labour laws and try to keep the wages down as much as possible.

I would say that the OP is already marked as someone to fire down the road whenever management deems him no longer needed and sees anyway to fire him without getting in any shit. So i would say get a lawyer and if theres any chance of suing the bastards take them to the cleaners.

Sorry if this came off as angry even for me but i have some very strong view points on this subject to say the least.

 

[halfoz]

what say i? or company's policy is that an offer of employment is contingent upon passing the background check, of which one aspect is a urinalysis. its black and white. we typically dont xtend an offer until the background clears first, however, if something were to come to light after we had extended the offer, we would retract the offer.

so, if the OP's UA came back dirty for pot, then no job. period.

with regard to methadone treatment, me personally, if that had been disclosed openly during the interviewing process, and the candidate was otherwise qualified, i'd be inclined to hire him. i tend to prefer hiring people who can demonstrate that they've made it through a challenge successfully.

 

[Cyc]

Nobody in their right mind would disclose openly being in MMT when applying for a job, because for every halfoz that would "be inclined to hire" there would be 100 managers who would not only discriminate, but believe they dodged a bullet by keeping another 'junkie' unemployed.

Just because someone gives you a job, it doesn't mean they own you. Personal life is personal, and what one does in their free time is nobody's business but their own. If someone wants to smoke pot on Saturday night, that doesn't preclude them from performing well at their M-F job. They certainly would be better off than a lot of the barely functional alcoholics out there. Why can't a private enterprise respect the private lives of their employees?

Aside from that, you didn't really answer my question. If your employer were to ask you to fire someone because they were on methadone and didn't disclose it, would you condone or condemn that decision?

I'll reserve judgment until I get an answer.

 

[halfoz]

i dont know if you're really seeing it from both sides. a decision to fire someone for cause is never taken lightly - not by me, and not by any of the companies i've worked for. in fact, its probably one of the most well thought out decisions that get made.

if there's a specific written policy that was violated by the employee, that's what we're looking for first. an uncontestable reason to terminate. if there's not, that's when the intangibles come into play. i'll be looking to HR and legal to ensure that there's no litigation exposure. I don't wanna get sued. and I'm senior enough where decisions to fire aren't handed to me to execute as orders. I can and will step in and prevent a termination action. otoh, there've been plenty of people i've wanted to fire, but have been prevented due to risk of litigation.

so, if someone on the mgmt team suggested that i fire someone in my organization because they were on methadone, i would look hard at the person's performance factors to see if there's a correlation between the person's methadone use and their ability to do the job.

i mean, this is a topic that is really complicated. its NEVER easy or fun to have to terminate someone. i'm always aware how the person's life is being effected. otoh, my job is to protect the company during these actions, which means sometimes coming off as coldhearted.

generally speaking, i'm 100x more likely to terminate for performance reasons (and this typically involves a performance improvement plan that includes several levels and gives the employee ample time to get his act together) than for something else.

to specifically answer your question though, if the president of my company directly ordered me to terminate an employee and HR had supplied a termination package, I would execute the order.

 

[Cyc]

I understand that terminating employees is not something that most employers relish, or get off on.

I just know that many people, especially those in management positions, have a very ignorant, or naive view of drug use. This is evidenced by the institutionalized restriction of drug users from employment. You, otoh, thanks to your exposure on BL, would have the benefit of perspective. My hope is that you would take advantage of this, to help enlighten those around you, who might not be as informed.

That said, I hope nobody would ever fire anyone for being on methadone. Methadone is a legitimate treatment for a recognized medical problem. If the question ever becomes, "How do we fire this guy for being on methadone" I hope there's someone willing to stand up and say something.

 

[panic in paradise]

them suspending you is a chance to prove yourself; think of it this way...
... and as said, you must be able to see it from the POV, imagine it as you discovering this.
HR letting you -slide- through with these disqualifications for even being hired, is not going to win any legal or civil suit, but maybe help you - help them - have to let you help yourself.

employment laws vary greatly -but- usually you can be let go of for having any mentally or physically impairing drug in your system, for many reasons. even with Marinol/Dranibinol(sp) its a risk...
(mostly to pay for the stuff but thats another story heheh)

-------------------------------------------------------------------
they may consider you a risk to be using or abusing substances now or later, but also understand you are being monitored by MMT; as your decision?
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if anything were to go wrong; for what ever reason and you are involved some how; you are an instant liability to the companies insurance or whom ever is contesting your employer.
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they have to consider your performance over-time - you have proven yourself with their highering routine - and it shows because you are bran new, and still employed. seems they have some sort of faith in you, maybe the bosses or their kid on on the 'done.


seeing as how they are impressed with you, but hit this bump,, you could maybe squeeze the promise of a reference out of them. at any rate, continue stepping down on the stuff for yourself. if you do this for yourself and they see it, and acknowledge - you will be a sign of accomplishment(which is deserving but not always a right)


so i say keep doing the good work for you, stay aggressive with them, and this could be the start of a job built initially on a LOAD of real trust.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Recovering drug addicts ARE covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (in the United States, obviously, you live in the US don't you?) - read through the provisions very carefully; it even protects people who are mistaken as drug users (imagine someone who seems like a stoner, speaks like a stoner in the stereotypical fashion, but isn't one in real life).

Make sure that you carefully fit within the definition of a recovering drug addict according to the act.

This may fall under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Act of Rehabilitation because addiction can be viewed as a debilitating "disease" unless treated. I think you have a real case so please please dont give up.

Yes! Thank you for saying this because you are 100% correct.

 

['medicine cabinet']

The one thing i wish they could understand about methadone is it is IN NO WAY impairing my ability to work. I dont even feel it when i take it anymore. I have been on the same dose for quite a while now so i am stabilized, its not like i am using methadone to get high. I really hate it when ppl write off MMT as a crutch and say you are just switching habits. It is a valid treatment just like someone who has chronic pain and takes high doses of narcotic painkillers. Had i tested pos for oxy or morphine and had a rx there would have been no questions asked even though i could very well be abusing those medications to the point of being impaired.

Thanks again to everyone input on this, i really do appreciate it.

 

[AfterGlow]

It's not the MMT itself that they are concerned about. It's the fact that in the not too distant past, you were addicted to illegal narcotics.

Whether you like it or not, they are using that to assess your overall character. They want reliable, hardworking, talented trustworthy people. They don't believe that you can be a drug addict and all of the things they are looking for.

While you may feel discriminated against, the process of discrimination is how we select from a pool of candidates. You could argue that just because somebody spent time in federal prison, it does not mean they couldn't do the job today. And that might be true. But being a felon is part of who you are and people use that to determine your character.

You may no longer be addicted to illegal drugs, but if you're still on MMT then you're still addicted (or dependent) on opiates. If you couldn't get your methadone they are concerned there is a possibility you'd be back on illegal narcotics.

I'm not being down on you. I'm trying to explain their position so you understand.