A Spanish man who was fired after being caught drinking on the job has won $55,000 in court from the company he was working for. His employer had hired a private detective who caught him drinking beer in bars and parking lots during work hours, including one instance where he reportedly drank three liters of beer during a lunch break. Since the man drove a company vehicle, his employer considered the behavior a serious safety risk and let him go.
But a Spanish court sided with the worker, ruling that the firing was too harsh. The judges noted that lunch breaks don’t technically count as work time, and the company couldn’t prove his drinking ever affected his job performance or endangered anyone. Spanish law also only allows dismissal for habitual drinking, and the court considered the incidents isolated.
Source: Oddity Central
