BLYTHEVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- A federal appeals court said Tuesday that a company was right to demote a steelworker after he missed four days of work because he was drunk.
Talmadge Scobey claimed Nucor Steel-Arkansas wrongly demoted him from his job that paid up to $90,000 a year. He had worked as a ''ladle man,'' pouring molten steel. While Scobey could have been fired, Nucor gave him a job in the shipping department and cut his pay nearly in half.
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis said the company's action was permissible because Scobey missed work four times in April 2005 due to drunkenness and had other unexcused absences that year.
In a dissent, Judge Kermit Bye said Scobey's complaint to a supervisor that he was suffering a ''nervous breakdown'' sufficiently put the company on notice that Scobey was in need of time away from work.
The court record said Scobey spoke to his supervisor, Kirby Teeter, on April 11, 2005, to complain about his mental health. ''Teeter did not believe Scobey's claim of a nervous breakdown and thought he was making excuses to avoid work because he was intoxicated,'' Judge Bobby Shepherd wrote for the majority.
Scobey missed the next four days of work and eventually was referred to the company's employee assistance program. In May, Scobey asked for a ''second chance'' and was allowed to work in the shipping department for lower pay. Scobey later quit without giving notice and sued claiming the company violated his rights under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.