Can I Be Fired Without a Fair Inquiry? Seeking Advice After a Costly Mistake

Hi, I worked for an organization for a little over a month (last job) at the middle management level. Though I'm sorry to say this, my services were terminated because I was drunk in the office. I received a termination letter via email from HR on the same day and subsequently a hard copy. I had a successful sales career before that, and it was a foolish mistake. But that's in the past.

Questions About Termination and Future Steps

What I want to know is:
(1) Can the company terminate an employee's employment without any inquiry or giving the employee a fair trial?
(2) What can I do from my side?
(3) What should I say when I go for my next interview?
(4) As I was there for only a month, should I remove it from my CV?

Please help me out. My one wrong action is causing a lot of turmoil for me and my family.

Hi gursud, I've been thinking along the same lines, but I also wanted to try and persuade my last employer to let bygones be bygones and provide me with a relieving letter. I feel that it might become relevant at some point.

Wipe out the painful past experiences and start again with a clean slate. Any habits under your control are fine. Any habits that take control of you are dangerous.

Have a great career ahead.

Regards,
B.S. Prasad

Thanks for the posts, they helped. Yes, you are right. For one, I could write it off my CV and start fresh since I was there for only a month, but the world's a small place and I don't want to face the music later. Secondly, I take it head-on, having learned from my mistake the hard way. I want to know if HR and senior people in organizations are open to this type of honesty if a potential candidate were to tell them, "Look, I was terminated from my last job due to being drunk, but I've overcome my issues and can assure you that it will not happen again." My CV shows a decent track record of 10 years. Would I be putting myself in a deeper fix? Should I mention this only when I sit across the table?

Thanks.