New Zealand Educator Caught Drinking Vodka While On The Job

After drinking while working, a childcare provider in New Zealand barely missed having her registration revoked for drinking vodka from a bottle of Gatorade while working at an early development center in January 2022.

The Educator was charged with serious misconduct and placed before the Complaints Assessment Committee. During her lunch break, she had left the center to buy a bottle of 7% alcohol containing Nitro Vodka & Guarana, which she then poured into the empty Gatorade bottle.

After that, she went back to work, where she was seen drinking from the bottle several times, including while watching kids play outdoors with another educator. The woman described the drink to a coworker as "a new sugar-free taste" of Gatorade.

A report of the committee's decision stated that staff members noticed she was "happier" and "chattier" than usual that afternoon. The woman continued to drink the beverage in her car after work before heading back to a staff meeting at approximately 5:30 p.m. Staff members told the committee that she was unstable on her feet during the meeting and that her behavior was "extremely over the top" compared to her typical self. Committee documents stated that she "greeted other teachers in an unusually pleasant manner and appeared to be uncharacteristically happy."

She slurred her words and was distracted, agitated, and perplexed during the staff meeting. She swayed in her chair and was also restless. During the meeting, the woman kept drinking from the Gatorade bottle until a witness saw that she was drunk and threw the container away after tipping the contents down the drain.

A few days later, during a meeting with the daycare center's management, the teacher admitted that she should have taken the day off because she was having a hard time.

According to the New Zealand Herald, it was the anniversary of her partner's passing. During her lunch break, the woman went to her car and had an anxiety attack, she told management. She tried calling her mother but could not get through. Although she admitted to being drunk during the staff meeting, she did not think she was intoxicated while teaching and expressed the hope that the alcohol would help her relax and avoid having another panic attack. The woman expressed regret to management for her actions and "acknowledged that she ought to have disclosed how she was feeling with the center's owner and her coworkers and that she ought to have asked for help.

Since the incident, she has made adjustments to her life, including as attending weekly counselling sessions and seeing an alcohol and drug therapist. She was also directed to Wahine Wai Ora, a support group for women who are battling alcohol and drug addiction. To help control her alcohol intake, she has also started taking Antabuse, which makes her more sensitive to alcohol.

Given that the woman had previously appeared before the committee on two separate occasions for driving while intoxicated, the most recent of which occurred only eighteen months prior to the event at the daycare facility, the court voiced worry. Although the woman's registration was canceled, the court chose to punish her for her actions and place certain limits on her.

Reference:
New Zealand Teacher Disguised Vodka As ‘Sugar-Free Gatorade’ While Supervising Children, 7 NEWS Australia