Right to a safe and drug free work place?

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Right to a safe and drug free work place?

I worked for a company as a member of
the management team for about five
months. During this time, I developed
severe generalized anxiety disorder. I
work around 70 hours a week for a drug
infested company. There was so much use
of illegal drugs before during and
after clocking in, from the most entry
level employee all the way up to my
district manager. While this is going
on though, I’m expected to manage this
intoxicated crew to the same standards
as normal. And am not allowed to tell
them to not come to work high. This
stress has caused me to develop a
condition in which I have episodes of
extreme vomiting that can last up to an
hour at a time. The doctors say that it
is absolutely nothing physical and is
all related to my nerves. This
continues to affect my every day life.
Can anything be done about this?

Asked on June 1, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Georgia

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 7 years ago | Contributor

Yes--you can contact the police to report the drug-users at work to them. However, your company has no obligation to fight drug use its ranks: it's the police, not private employers, who enforce our drug and other criminal laws. And there is no compensation for being stressed at work, regardless of the cause of the stress: the law does not recognize work stress as something compensible, especially because you have the right to quit a stressful or unpleasant job and find alternate employment. 
That leads to your other recourse: to leave this job and find one that does not cause you so much distress.


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