Quote:
Originally Posted by Resolute 14
No. The NHL and NHLPA have a collectively bargained rehab program for players with drug or alcohol problems, and under no scenario, including arrest, is contract termination an accepted action. That is why this is not the basis of the Kings' actions - even the league itself would have slapped them for trying because any arbitrator or court in the US or Canada would have hammered the Kings into the ground.
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You CAN NOT force anyone into a rehab program. The player can identify he has an issue and the program then kicks in. As an employer, at least in Canada, you are also not allowed to approach and employee and state you think that they have an addiction/abuse problem.
The attempt at termination probably also has to do with the inability of Richards to cross the border IF he is convicted, not to do with his "addiction".
From the Kings board on HF:
"As an immigration lawyer I can tell you that a drug conviction will make him inadmissible to the United States (so long as we aren't talking about less than 30g of MJ) without a waiver which is not a slam dunk. Without the waiver he can't enter the U.S. And if he can't enter the United States he can't fulfill his obligations under the contract. The real question is whether the contract should have been terminated before or after the conviction. As "they" say, timing is everything."