City council members are demanding to know why they're getting repeated complaints about city workers drinking on the job.ATLANTA -
City council members are demanding to know why they're getting repeated complaints about city workers drinking on the job. The problem, as FOX 5 has revealed, includes the employees who were supposed to be supervising the workers.
The worker came forward after FOX 5 reported on July 9 that Department of Watershed Management employee Gary Blackwell was allegedly spotted purchasing a case of beer and then opening a can as he got back into his city vehicle.
"I know that at night time, they go to drink, and when the night falls, it's like a saloon there," said the worker, who asked to remain anonymous. He says beer, hard liquor, and marijuana are involved and that managers are aware of the problem.
The evening shift is said to be where most of the drinking is taking place. Atlanta Commissioner of Human Resources, Yvonne Cowser Yancey, told Atlanta City Council members on Tuesday that they have instituted night testing of employees, which they have not had before.
A mobile lab did go to the pipe yard where the whistleblower worked, but it was sent in the mid-afternoon. Sources tell FOX 5's Morse Diggs that some of the workers on the day shift called the people on the evening shift, and told them not to come in. So they called in sick in order to avoid being tested that evening.
"Is it possible for someone to game the system? It's always possible but we think this new process is sort of closing some of the loops," said Yancey.
Some council members urged commissioners and deputy commissioners to conduct surprise checks at night at some city shops.
