Man...If this case is exactly the way this guy says it is, then it is total B.S. that he was fired:
1) The COMPANY doctor gave him the meds and sent him back to work! If the company doctor has no idea what the rules are for driving, how the @&#^$ is this driver supposed to know.
2) I just happen to have a bottle of VICODIN here (actually the generic Hydrocodone/apap 5/mg/500mg Tabs) and it says: May cause drowsiness. Alcohol may intensify this effect.
USE CARE WHEN OPERATING A CAR OR DANGEROUS MACHINERY. It doesn't say you can't operate a vehicle of any kind...So if there is a DOT regulation against it, the UPS Doctor (aka Quack) should have told the driver and NOT released him to work.
3) It is bad enough that UPS fires drivers for B.S. accidents like breaking mirrors, cracking windshields on tree branches, etc. NOW we have people saying they should be fired even when they DON'T have an accident "Well because he could have had an accident if only there had been some cars in the lanes he crossed and someone's mom or kids COULD have been in them".
4) Had the guy tried to call in because he was not feeling up to working then UPS would want to fire him for being absent...You just can't win...