What is the difference between termination of employment because of misconduct or because of a disability?

Courts have recognized a distinction between termination of employment because of misconduct and termination of employment because of a disability. In Little v. FBI, 1 F.3d 255, 259 (4th Cir.1993), the court found that an alcoholic employee was discharged because of his misconduct of being intoxicated while on duty, rather than because of his alcoholism handicap, and that therefore, the discharge did not violate the Rehabilitation Act. ³ The court noted that alcoholics and drug addicts are not exempt from reasonable rules of conduct, such as prohibitions against the possession or use of alcohol or drugs in the workplace, id. at 258, and employers must be allowed to terminate their employees on account of misconduct, "irrespective of whether the employee is handicapped." Id. at 259. ⁴