Worried about coworker - advice needed

[BillNye]

Wow for a second I thought this was a rickroll type "its the office" deal, where Stanley is obv depressed and Kelly and Dwight both wanna be the company "hero"

[Jasper109]

It's hard to say what you should do without knowing more about this guy.
You know him a lot better than we do so you should probably just go with your instincts in terms of what the best course of action should be.
If I was to guess based on what you wrote I would say you should mention that you are worried about him and his reaction will determine what goes down after that.

[Eurotrash]

well, in my experience, nothing cheers somebody up like tacos and some singing.

[PokeReader]

Look, if you really think someone will report the guy, and he will get fired and you want to do something about this, and you have some trust with this guy (warning, not smart), what he should do before he is fired is ask for disability to deal with his alcoholism/depression. This (esp. the drinking) counts under the disability act. They will then not be able to fire him until he completes treatment and is given another chance. But make sure you company is large enough, sounds like it is just on the line.

[bryan4967]

kevin-

tell roy that just b/c pam broke up with him doesn't mean that drinking will solve anything, no matter how smarmy that jim halpert is. oh, and michael won't fire him unless corporate makes him.

[RunDownHouse]

If you're just worried about the guy, and not a close friend, then I wouldn't go farther than telling him his work has suffered lately. He'll either pull out of it or he'll continue, and I don't think you, as a coworker, can really influence him more than the booze.

[ardubz]

An anonymous letter seems like it would be effective and non-confrontational.

[chesspain]

[ QUOTE ]
...the drinking counts under the disability act.

[/ QUOTE ]

I doubt that this is true. Although I assume you are referring to the Americans with Disabilities Act, the fact is that according to the Social Security Administration, disability is specifically disallowed for individuals with substance abuse problems unless it can be clearly demonstrated that the individual would be disabled even without the substance abuse problem. Consequently, since it is disallowed under the SSA, I see no reason why it would be included under the ADA.

[PokeReader]

This is incorrect. For drug abusers the abuser must not be using to be protect, i.e. must be in rehab. Alcoholism is a covered disability period. However, for your co-worker to get a leave to get rehab he should apply for this before he is reprimanded for his bad work performance, for which he is responsible.

WHEN ARE ALCOHOL USERS COVERED UNDER THE ADA?

Individuals who abuse alcohol may be considered disabled under the ADA if the person is an alcoholic or a recovering alcoholic.[40] Courts have usually held that alcoholism is a covered disability. For example, in Williams v. Widnall,[41] the court flatly stated, without discussion, that alcoholism “is a covered disability.”[42]



Reasonable Accommodation for Alcoholics

The duty to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities is considered one of the most important statutory requirements of the ADA.[58] Reasonable accommodation for an alcoholic would generally involve a modified work schedule[59] so the employee could attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, or a leave of absence[60] so the employee could seek treatment. In Schmidt v. Safeway, Inc.,[61] for example, the court held that the employer must provide a leave of absence so the employee could obtain medical treatment for alcoholism.[62]

[ClevelandWasp]

I was in a similar situation about two months ago. You need to take this guy aside even though it will be mad akward and uncomfortable. Option 2 (doing nothing) leaves you open to the situation where the guy is fired, kills himself, kills others or all of the above. Then you're left with the guilt. Too big a risk.