LISBON (Reuters) - A Portuguese court has ordered awaste removal company to rehire an employee it fired for being drunk on his rounds and said tipsy trash men appear happier to members of the public.[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]The appeals court in Porto, a northern city renowned for its port wines, also ordered the company to pay the man 14 months' worth of back wages.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]The three judges ruled that the waste collector had not broken any rules on alcohol consumption at work because the firm had not written any. It also rejected the use of a blood alcohol test submitted as evidence without his permission.[/FONT]
"It is to be noted that with alcohol, the worker may forget about life's hardships ... and the public may even consider that this happy worker is a very efficient, excellent and quick remover of scrap," said the verdict on the court's website, which did not name the company or its employee.
