Car-less Salesman: A DUI Strips a Salesman of His License

Life had been good for Zachary Robinson. After a few sales stints in different fields, he had found his niche in pharmaceuticals. Since his move to Big Pharma, he consistently exceeded his monthly quotas. After being selected as salesman of the quarter, his company had just moved him up to executive accounts. The new position came with a company vehicle, reasonable expense account, and attractive incentives. What was even better is that he was now working out of the coveted Fairfax, Virginia office. Not that he would be in there much. Zach’s workplaces were doctors’ offices, the inside of his car, and occasionally a bar or restaurant.

Zach had never considered himself much of a drinker. However, looking back upon recent incidents, his rate of liquor consumption had recently spiked. Nothing out of control; just more. If Zach was the kind of person to defer fault, he might have blamed the clients. Many of them were too busy to talk during the workday, or were looking for a night out on Zach’s expense account. He didn’t mind; it was all part of life as a salesman. It seemed ironic to Zach that what he once considered a useful tool was the very thing that might now undo his career.

Zach received his first and only DUI after a particularly vigorous night of drinking with the manager of an Orthopedist’s office. It wasn’t their first time out; this had become a quarterly ritual. The two most significant differences on this occasion were the extra belt of scotch that Zach drank to celebrate his recent promotion, and the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Drunk Driver checkpoint that was two miles south of the Morton’s Steakhouse where he had been drinking. Zach thought that he had at least a decent chance at not being stopped, but as fate would have it, he was.

Zach refused to perform roadside sobriety exercise and he knew that he wouldn’t pass a breath test so he declined that as well. Because of his refusals, his DUI attorney told him that he had a good chance of beating the drunk driving case against him. Zach felt a bit guilty because he knew that he had actually been drunk, but it’s not like anyone was hurt. The bigger problem was that he was also charged with refusing to submit to a breath test. This meant that his license was immediately suspended for seven days. What’s worse: if he was convicted, his license could be suspended for a year.

The morning after, Zach called in sick. It wasn’t far from the truth—he felt ill. He didn’t mention anything about the DUI. He wasn’t sure what his boss would say to him, or even if he would have a job. Even if he was able to obtain a restricted Virginia driver’s license for work, there’s no way he could operate as a salesman the way he had been. Zach’s chance—his only chance—was that his DUI lawyer was as good at defending drunk driving cases as he was at pharmaceutical sales. That thought made him laugh as he told the cab driver to take him to the Fairfax County Court House. He would be fine—he hoped.