Larry Werst has been a construction supervisor for Midwestern Construction for many years. He was known for getting the job done close to schedule and doing it right. Many rumors were going around that Larry was an alcoholic and he was drinking on the job. Many co-workers noticed his bad-breath odor smelling like alcohol and always purchasing two cokes. When Larry was confronted about the rumors, Larry denied he was drinking and the manager told Larry if he was ever caught he would be fired from the company. Larry stated the cokes were for him and his foreman. Almost a year later, when construction was in full swing again, the men on the job working with him noticed he was always drinking a quart of milk and wondered if it was “spiked” and Larry was using the milk to mask the bad breath odor. Larry had bad speech habits therefore unable to use that as an indicator of him drinking. During his last job, it was a little behind schedule due to the inability to get good carpenters at the beginning of the season and the job was going OK. Larry had actually never been caught drinking. The rumors at first were ignored because they did not represent a safety risk to themselves or others. The manager has suspensions that Larry is drinking on the job but has no sufficient proof. In any type of disciplinary situation, Larry would be innocent until proven guilty. No disciplinary action could be taken based solely on rumor and suspension. The next step that management would be able to do is an investigation to see if the rumors are supported by actual facts. The managers could interview various employees that have worked with Larry and attempt to get information. The manager would need some type of proof that Larry was observed drinking, what type of liquor was he drinking, and when was he drinking (the middle of the day, end of the shift, etc.). Some companies would require the manager to gain further proof by asking Larry to take a blood test to ensure he was drinking and at what degree of impairment he was. If management did find sufficient proof that Larry was drinking, the next step would be disciplinary action. The manager has already warned Larry that if he was caught drinking, he would be fired. The action I would recommend is to investigate further before making accusations to Larry. I would sit down and ask the employees that have been working with him, if they have noticed any other signs of him drinking other than bad breath and bad speech. I would ask other employees if they have actually witnessed Larry drinking. I would also do a random blood test on Larry to see if he is drinking on the job and how much. Based on what the investigation found I would either fire Larry for drinking on the job or if no sufficient proof is found, then I would start to ignore the rumors until able to get proof of his drinking.