High tea

Drinking tea may be bad for workers.

A suspended train technician in Britain lost his job recently after an employment court rejected his complaint against his employer, Network Rail.

Paul Glenholmes disputed the train company's reason for dismissing him after he failed a drug test.

Glenholmes apparently was drinking herbal tea he had bought from a market stall to alleviate his digestive problem caused by medication.

Inka tea, also known as mate de coca tea, is made from the raw or dried leaves of the coca plant, also known for its psychoactive chemical — cocaine.

During a drug test in 2020, Glenholmes tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite for cocaine, the Telegraph reported. He was suspended and eventually fired.

The technician disputed his alleged unfair dismissal, arguing that he did not know that the tea contained cocaine. However, Employment Judge Martin Brewer said Glenholmes was to blame for "not researching prior to drinking it, what it contained," according to the Telegraph.

Meanwhile, not drinking tea could also lead to unemployment in the bizarre case of an Indian surgeon.

The unnamed surgeon was recently carrying out scheduled family planning procedures on eight women at a local health center in Nagpur, central India.

After operating on four women and administering anesthesia to the other patients, the surgeon reportedly asked hospital staff to make him a cup of tea, Sky reported.

When the hot tea did not arrive as requested, he promptly left the operating room without carrying out the remaining procedures, according to NDTV and Sky.

The chief of Nagpur's district council, Soumya Sharma, said criminal charges will be filed against the surgeon for his walkout.

"If doctors are willing to abandon such critical procedures over a mere cup of tea, they should be held accountable under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code," Sharma said, according to Sky.

WJG @tribunephl_wjg