One top court has ruled that as long as inebriated employees aren’t a risk to co-workers or customers, they can’t be fired.

Peru’s Constitutional Tribunal decided that a janitor who was terminated for being drunk on the job was given a “disproportionate” punishment. Pablo Cayo, janitor for the municipality of Chorrillos,  a suburb of Lima, was ordered back to his post.

Judge Fernando Calle said the firing was excessive because Cayo did not offend or hurt anybody while he was on the job. Since the janitor wasn’t “a manager or a judge,” and he wasn’t “going to cause a car accident or kill anyone,” the termination was abusive, said Calle.

Peru’s Labor Minister Jorge Villasante opposes the ruling, claiming “it’s not a good idea to relax rules at workplaces.” Although government employers largely oppose the decision, the court has refused to revise its ruling.

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Tags: Drinking at work, Firing, Termination