Drug and Alcohol Testing

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The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (“FRA”) recently announced a final rule expanding drug and alcohol testing applicable to maintenance-of-way (“MOW”) employees, effective one year from the date of the rule’s publication (which has yet to be announced). MOW employees work directly on and around railway tracks and crossings, maintaining the tracks, bridges,…

Today, OSHA’s final electronic recordkeeping rule, “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses,” was published in the Federal Register.  A detailed discussion of the rule can be found here on our OSHA Law Blog.  In the final rule OSHA states that “blanket post-injury drug testing policies deter proper reporting” and concludes that:

“the final…

A federal court in Pennsylvania has allowed an employee to proceed with a wrongful discharge/invasion of privacy claim related to her discharge after a positive drug test result. Wilkinson v. Marvin E. Klinger, Inc., Case No. 4:15-cv-01916, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58340 (M.D. PA. May 3, 2016).

Plaintiff, a 58-year old school bus driver, was…

The Rhode Island Supreme Court has held that a three-year statute of limitations applies to claims alleging violations of the employer drug testing statute in that state. Goddard v. APG Sec.-RI, LLC, No. 2014-239-Appeal (R.I. Mar. 7, 2016).

Rhode Island’s employer drug testing statute provides employees with a right to be free from drug…

A federal appeals court in Minnesota has held that the Minnesota drug testing statute applies to an applicant tested in Minnesota, even though the applicant was being hired for a job in another state.  Olson v. Push, Inc., No. 14-3160 (8th Cir. Feb. 22, 2016).

Push, Inc., a Wisconsin corporation, hired Olson, a…

Although an employee clearly refused a drug test under an employer’s drug and alcohol policy, an appellate court in Alabama remanded the case to the trial court because the employer’s policy did not clearly define the testing methods to be utilized, which was an important component of determining the employee’s eligibility for unemployment benefits. Austal…

An employer’s reliance on a positive alcohol test was held to be a legitimate and non-discriminatory basis for termination, despite the terminated employee’s argument that the test result was inaccurate.  Clark v. Boyd Tunica, Inc., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35223 (N.D.  Miss. March 1, 2016).

Plaintiff, a line cook at Boyd Tunica, Inc., underwent…

Motor carriers subject to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration drug and alcohol testing requirements in 2016 will have to conduct significantly fewer random drug tests for drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs), including certain trucks and buses, and spend less money on that testing, the U.S. Department of Transportation agency said recently .

The FMCSA…

A deaf employee who tested positive for hydrocodone – but could not produce a prescription for the drug – was not discriminated against due to his disability when his employer fired him.  Phillips v. PPG Industries, Inc., Case No. 5:14-CV-1274 (N.D. Alabama Nov. 24, 2015).

Phillips was employed as a “finisher” in a manufacturing…