According to a recent annual survey made public by Rhode Island health officials Rhode Islanders use marijuana and illicit drugs at the highest rates in the nation. In the survey, Rhode Island actually edged out Colorado, which has legalized marijuana use and became…
Posts by Category: Pre-employment Drug Testing
Do DOT-Regulated Employees Have A Privacy Interest In Their Positive Drug and Alcohol Test Results? Maybe Not.
According to a recent decision by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. employees subject to U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) drug and alcohol testing regulations may have limited privacy interests in their…
Drug-Testing Policy for Prescription Meds May Not Violate ADA
According to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, an employer’s policy of drug testing all employees for prescription drugs that are packaged with warnings about operating machinery may not constitute an improper medical examination or an improper disability…
What Does Alaska’s and Oregon’s Legalization of Marijuana Change for Employers?
On November 4, Oregon, Alaska, and the District of Columbia became the latest jurisdictions to pass referendums decriminalizing the recreational possession and use of small amounts of marijuana. Oregon’s law becomes effective in July 2015; Alaska’s…
Admissions of Drug Use By Employees Are Not The Same As Positive Test Results in Minnesota
A common occurrence when employees are confronted with a requirement to take a drug test: they often confess. Sometimes they suggest that the employer need not bother with the test because they know they will test positive. Under the Minnesota Drug and Alcohol Testing…
Federal Court of Appeals Addresses Testing Employees for Lawful Prescription Drug Use
The Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) makes it unlawful for an employer to either require its employees to undergo medical examinations or make disability-related inquiries that cannot be justified as “job related and consistent with business…
Worker Drug Test Positives Rise for First Time Since 2003
A new study published by Quest Diagnostics reported an increase in the workforce drug test positivity rate for the first time in ten years, fueled primarily by marijuana and amphetamines. The Quest Drug Testing Index (DTI) released on September 11, 2014 also showed a…
A Three Pronged Strategy To Stay Ahead Of Drug Test Cheaters (Second of two parts)
The first part of this article examined the creative ways in which some individuals try to beat a drug test. In order to beat cheaters at their own game, it is important to know what you’re looking for in terms of a urine sample that is not right. Labs primarily…
Public Employers, You Can’t Drug Test as if You Were in the Private Sector
Public employers often mistakenly believe that they have the same drug testing rights as employers in the private sector. As a recent decision from a federal court in Florida shows, it isn’t necessarily so. The court found that there was no evidence showing that…
Minnesota Drug Testing Law Does Not Apply to Employees Working Outside Minnesota
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….