The NHLPA has until the end of January to grieve the firing of Corey Perry by the Chicago Blackhawks. You can bet the NHLPA is looking at this seriously since this may not be a precedent the Union wants to see stand given that Perry was fired for cause (fired and not paid out what was remaining on his contract).
As part of the legal assessment, the NHLPA will consider whether Perry’s self-described struggles with alcohol should form, in part, the basis of a grievance.
According to Daily Faceoff, an “alcohol-fueled incident involving Perry” was alleged to have happened during “an event that included corporate partners and team employees in attendance.”
After being terminated, Perry said he has struggled with alcohol and is seeking help.
“I have started working with experts in the mental health and substance abuse fields to discuss my struggles with alcohol, and I will take whatever steps necessary to ensure this never happens again,” Perry said in the statement. “I hope to regain the trust and respect of everyone who has believed in me throughout my career.”
So could the NHLPA successfully rely on an alcoholism argument in a grievance challenging the termination of his contract?
Probably not.
Here’s your starting point. At law, alcoholism is a disability. Since it’s a disability, an employer can’t discriminate against an employee on that basis. And on top of that, an employer has a duty to accommodate an employee with a disability. The duty to accommodate means that sometimes an employer needs to treat someone differently in order to prevent or reduce discrimination. For example, a worker with diabetes might require extra breaks during a shift to check blood sugar levels.
Here’s the legal issue for Perry: the law distinguishes between alcoholism (which must be accommodated) and alcohol-related misconduct in the workplace, which need not be tolerated.
So an employer is not required to tolerate workplace misconduct that flows from drinking even if the employee is an alcoholic. Employers may discipline employees for misconduct on the job, even if the employees can attribute the misconduct to alcoholism.
By way of example, a manager who claims he only harassed a secretary because he was intoxicated cannot succeed in defending the firing on the basis of being an alcoholic.
Every case is of course different and there may be circumstances here that may successfully support a grievance as it relates to alcohol. We don’t have all the details of the incident and that’s always important in assessing the merits of success. Still, there is a starting point for every case and here we have it.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmacramalla/2023/12/04/could-the-nhlpa-rely-on-alcoholism-in-a-corey-perry-grievance/