A group of employees are caught drinking on the job & the manager justifies some of them & writes up another??

If a group of employees are drinking at work, on the clock, and all are caught, is it discrimination for the manager to write up only one of the employees and verbally justify the other employees drinking stating that due to their position and the fact they don't have to interact with people, it's okay for them to drink on the clock? The company's policy in the handbook is no drinking on the clock, only after clocked out.

I dont wanna be a rat either but if questioned, I wouldn't on any circumstances give any names, even if it meant loosing my job over. If any names were given, the manager would have to be the one to give them

Is it fair? No. Is it discrimination? Maybe.

But...you best think twice before making an issue over it. The whole lot of them could get fired, and that would make you the bad guy. No one likes a rat, no offense meant.

Yes, this is discrimination and if you take this to a lawyer you will get a lot of money.

YES. Take it to a lawyer and turn them into the BBB. First I might try taking it up with the owner. The manager will get repramanded of terminated. If the owner takes the managers side then take it to a lawyer and for sure turn it into the BBB. Good luck and best wishes.

If the company policy does not distinguish customer facing versus non-customer facing employees and the "manager" in question does not treat all employees equally, he or she is an idiot.
I would advise confronting (perhaps anonymously) this "manager" by saying "you are ineffective at equitably enforcing the company policy of no drinking during working hours which means you are both negligent and are effectively sanctioning behaviour in contravention of this policy. If you do not revoke your discriminatory report, I will take this negligence up with you boss".

No it is not justifiable to discriminately write up only one of the employees in question herein, therefore the manager made a wrongful judgement on the part of the employee who was been written up and not the whole bunch of the employee caught drinking on the job.

What is the justification of the verbal statement of the manager in releasing the other employees in the said act? In a criminal offense the act of one is an act of all, but since this is not an offense theoretically against the State law nevertheless against a company rules and regulaltion, these employees are answerable to the policy of the company. No company I think allow their employees whether clock in or out to drink on the job. And besides the policy that you mention here regarding the policy of the company in their handbook that drinking is allowed after clocked out? I think it presume outside the company premises, we presume in your story that the employees are caught inside the premises of the company.

The premises included are chairs, tables, computers, bookshelves..etc which compose a company premises, now if this is as you stated in the handbook to drink after clockout shall we say after office hour 5 pm or 6 pm and they drink inside their office it is still open to debate whether they are still allowed to drink in their own office disregarding their position in the company if they are Vice-President or an executive officer is immaterial to the said case, it pertains to all employees of the company.