I had a drunk driving accident in a company vehicle outside of work hours during permitted personal usage, I had full permission to drive th...

Question

I had a drunk driving accident in a company vehicle outside of work hours during permitted personal usage, I had full permission to drive the vehicle outside of work hours, it was a take home vehicle. I have had two DUI convictions before. It was a one vehicle accident where I hit a telephone pole after swerving to miss a deer and luckily I was the only injured party, and only injured very slightly, but the vehicle was severely damaged. My employer is telling me that they will not go through the company insurance and that I will have to reimburse them for the full cost of the repairs to the vehicle which may exceed 30k dollars or more if it is totaled. Is this legal for them to do? Obviously they could have fired me for this offense but to do this to me makes me wonder what else I can expect from them moving forward.As the accident happened during personal use I had expected to pay the insurance deductible for the accident but certainly not for the full cost of the company insured vehicle. The company had full knowledge of my prior driving record, both occurred while I worked there, one in a company vehicle. Never before has there been an accident related though. Where do I stand?

Answer

Your company is nuts. Call me.