Safeway Snags Victory in Disability, Medical Leave Suit

Safeway slipped free of a workplace discrimination lawsuit brought by a meat department manager who claimed the grocery giant fired him for taking medical leave to treat his alcoholism.

Alcohol addiction can be considered a disability under the Washington state law under which Dan Wilson sued Safeway, and rehabilitation treatment is a valid reason to claim medical leave in Washington.

But Wilson couldn’t proceed to trial because it was well-established by Safeway that he “was not fulfilling the standards required by Safeway, to say the least, before taking leave, and then he failed to even show up for work upon ...