Reply To: Is Sleeping on Duty a Dismissable Offence?

[Patrick Deale]

No. The pain tablet he took was common cause. There was no evidence to prove he’d taken a soporific substance in addition to the pain tablet. So, the most probable cause of his drowsiness was the pain tablet he got from his employer. And pain tablets are known to cause “drowsiness”. This makes the employee’s version inherently probable. The arbitrator should accept it in the absence of a more probable version.