Developments in Regulating Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing
A Tennessee auto glass manufacturer will get a new trial to prove that drug tests it administered to its employees – including tests for prescription medications — were not “medical examinations” or “disability-related inquiries” under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Bates v. Dura Automotive Systems, Inc., No. 11-6088 (6th Cir. August 26, 2014).
In…
A federal court in Minnesota has ruled that Minnesota’s Drug and Alcohol Testing in the Workplace Act (DATWA), Minn. Stat. Sections 950-957, does not apply to employees who work or are applying to work outside the state of Minnesota. Olson v. Push, Inc., No. 14-1163 (ADM/JJK) (D. Minn. Aug. 19, 2014). In Olson, the…
The Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) announced last week that it is considering expanding its current drug and alcohol testing regulations to require testing of certain foreign repair and maintenance workers performing work for U.S. air carriers.
While the FAA has long required random drug and alcohol testing of workers responsible for maintaining and repairing aircrafts…
Pre-offer drug tests to determine the use of both legal and illegal drugs violated the Americans with Disabilities Act’s prohibition on pre-offer medical inquiries, a federal court in Pennsylvania held on March 6, 2014. EEOC v. Grane Healthcare Co. and Ebensburg Care Center, LLC, d/b/a Cambria Care Center, CV No. 3:10-250 (W. Dist. Pa.
A U.S. District Court in Florida has released a decision, involving a public employer, instructive for private employers who rely on “reasonable suspicion” to drug test employees. An employer must have individualized, articulable, and objective ground for suspecting an employee has violated a substance abuse policy. Personal animosity should not be a basis. Hudson v. …
