Reasonable Accommodations for Alcohol Use Disorder?

In some work environments, staying away from alcohol is easier than in others.  For every recovering alcoholic sipping a Diet Coke at a three-martini lunch with colleagues, and for every supermarket employee who points customers to the beer aisle but declines to help them find the beer they are looking for because she is 16 years sober, there are multiple people who are struggling to reenter the workforce after alcohol derailed their careers.  Employment law defines disability, which is a protected characteristic, as any chronic health condition that interferes substantially with your life activities.  By this definition, alcohol use disorder may qualify, as do many other invisible disabilities.  People who became addicted to alcohol in boozy work environments such as bars and restaurant kitchens may change careers after going through addiction treatment; even if their passion for cooking remains, they may choose to apply for jobs in restaurants where the environment is more conducive to sobriety.  One would not expect that an employee would have to ask for a reasonable accommodation whereby work supervisors do not pressure her to get drunk, but anything is possible in Hollywood.  If you are recovering from alcohol abuse and have experienced discrimination at work, contact a Los Angeles discrimination and harassment lawyer.

Reality TV Performer Sues Network Over Work Environment That Pressured Her to Relapse

A cast member on a reality TV series disclosed, in her audition tape, that she suffered from alcohol disorder.  She was sober for nine years and then suffered a brief relapse about six months before auditioning for the show.  The producers of the show selected her to join the cast, saying that her sobriety journey gave her an interesting backstory.  Once filming began, alcohol flowed freely.  The producers, one in particular, encouraged cast members to drink alcohol in front of the plaintiff and pressured her to drink.  Eventually, she relapsed, and reality TV did what it does best and caught her relapse on tape.  One of the show’s highest rated episodes shows the plaintiff drunk and behaving erratically on camera.

The cast member sued the network and the producer that she claims orchestrated her relapse.  She claims in the lawsuit that the network exploited her vulnerability and intentionally placed her in a situation where there was pressure to relapse, knowing that her relapse would make good television.  She also claims that the producer named as a defendant pressured cast members to use cocaine, giving his drug buddies preferential treatment over the cast members who abstained from drugs; the plaintiff herself never used cocaine.  Another cast member on the show recently sued the same producer for sexual harassment.

Speak With a Los Angeles Employment Discrimination Lawyer

A Los Angeles employment discrimination and retaliation lawyer can represent you in employment discrimination cases if your employer created a work environment detrimental to your efforts to stay sober.  Contact Litigation, P.C. in Redondo Beach, California to discuss your situation or call (424)284-2401.

Sources:

usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2024/02/28/leah-mcsweeney-lawsuit-andy-cohen-bravo/72771728007/

usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2024/02/23/brandi-glanville-andy-cohen-sexual-harassment-video-letter/72711657007/