Looks like potentially another saved career for ALPA and OBAP. I would say less than half of these cases ever get media attention.
The company will loudly proclaim a 'zero-tolerance' policy for drugs and alcohol and then quietly show up as they did at this and the other UK hearings to support the pilot.
UAL presumably has a H.I.M.S. agreement (see
HIMS - A Substance Abuse Treatment Program For Commercial Pilots ) with the union that protects Captain Washington's job if he successfully completes certain milestones in rehab. Most large U.S. carriers have this, some are historically more generous than others in this regard.
This guy will probably have his year off, some of it paid by sick leave, and return to the line with his seniority intact. He'll have to be on the wagon for maybe three years and subject to increased drug and alcohol testing.
From recent cases of which I have personal knowledge, sometimes the feds take all of your tickets and make you earn them back, sometimes they don't.
This is a perennial news story and thread here in PPRuNe, unfortunately.