The case of a Quebec arbitrator awarding a drunk truck driver her job back is a head scratcher

People are scratching their heads over a recent arbitration decision involving a Quebec truck driver who, on June 30, 2022, downed at least nine beers while on a job from Montreal to Pennsylvania and was involved in a single-vehicle collision. She was arrested and found to have a blood-alcohol level of 0.18 – more than twice the legal limit. She was fired two months later by her employer, Groupe Robert.

It’s at this point the story veers into the Twilight Zone.

The woman filed a labour complaint, even though the collective agreement between Groupe Robert and the union representing drivers states the penalty for drinking and driving is immediate termination of employment. Her claim went before arbitrator Huguette April who, on July 18, ordered the employer to reinstate the trucker because her drinking was the result of a disability – alcoholism – and her employer had not made reasonable accommodation. April wrote that the driver claimed the “company could have installed an alcohol-testing device in her truck after the crash or found other work for her.”

What was Groupe Robert supposed to do to accommodate her? Have a cooler in the front seat? They are a transportation company and her job was to drive a truck. Why should they find her a desk job after she disclosed her alcohol use disorder a week after the crash.

Further, why would anyone want to work at a company where each time they walk down the hall, somebody goes, “Hey, remember when she drank nine beers and crashed a truck.”

In Quebec, those who are convicted of an alcohol-related offence have their licences revoked. After the penalty period, they can apply for a restricted licence that allows them to only drive vehicles that are equipped with an alcohol ignition interlock device.

So, by the rule of law, the complainant trucker may have a case for the alcohol-testing device.

Still.

It is difficult to understand how a person could be guilty of drinking nine beers and crashing a truck and yet think they deserve to keep their job as a trucker. Isn’t “not driving drunk” one of the most important aspects of operating a truck. Surely any right-thinking person who drank nine beers and crashed a truck would find a new line of work. They would be wise to avoid all driving-related industries. What’s the appropriate number of drunken truck crashes before you need to look for another field of employment? Three? Five? How about one?

According to the arbitrator, “The night of the accident, she needed to drink. She admitted that even though she knew she shouldn’t, the need was stronger, like something that she couldn’t control.”

Sorry, but that is not making a strong case for the complainant trucker returning to the world of trucking. Alcohol use disorder is characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol. Since the accident, the trucker has “sought medical help to stop drinking” but people in recovery have been known to relapse. Why should public safety be jeopardized because of someone else’s alcohol use disorder?

Perhaps what’s most shocking about the story is the lack of gratitude shown by the complainant trucker. Does she not realize that it is only by the Grace of God that she escaped a more serious fate? Has she no idea how lucky she is no one was injured or killed? Does she not realize that she essentially won the lottery and that trying to get her job back shows an utter bankruptcy of character?

To the complainant trucker I say: You got drunk, crashed a truck and then got sober. Take the win and get on with your life. Find a new line of work. Is it too much to ask that you suffer a little consequence for your irresponsible and dangerous behaviour?

If she is still struggling to grasp how lucky she is to not have killed or injured anyone and to be leading a sober life, she could reach out to 33-year-old Kiley Sturm who, in July, was arrested for DUI in an accident that left her two-year-old daughter dead.

The complainant trucker can at least take some solace in knowing that there are thousands of drunk drivers out there – let’s call them the Kiley Sturms of the world – who would trade places with her in a heartbeat. There are many, many such stories. The news is full of them.

Hundreds of Canadians die each year because of drunk driving. Shouldn’t our laws and the system accommodate other drivers and pedestrians by putting their safety first in cases like this?

Meanwhile, Groupe Robert is appealing the arbitrator’s decision.