The Safer Workplace Act, will goes into effect July 7, 2017, will broaden the circumstances under which employers may conduct workplace drug and alcohol testing. Employers must comply with all of the statue’s requirements in order to take advantage of its benefits….
Posts by Category: Pre-employment Drug Testing
Unreliable Anonymous Tip Could Not Form Basis of Reasonable Suspicion Drug Test by Public Employer
Ralph Greer established a Fourth Amendment violation by several individual supervisors after being discharged from his position with the Detroit Department of Water and Sewage (DWSD) when he refused to submit a drug test to the company. The Construction Inspector was…
Quest Diagnostics Annual Survey Shows Drug Test Positivity Rates Continue to Climb
A recently published Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index has demonstrated that illicit drug use among United States employees is on the rise, resulting in the highest drug test positivity rates in the last 12 years. The survey of more than 10 million workforce drug…
Maine Delays Implementation of Certain Provisions of Recreational Marijuana Law
In November, Maine became one of four states in which voters approved a new recreational marijuana law. The law took effect on Jan. 30, but emergency legislation passed on Jan. 27 delayed the implementation of certain provisions of the law. This included pushing the…
Applicant Who Failed Pre-Employment Drug Test Could Not Show the Public Employer Violated Her Due Process Rights or Title VII
A lawsuit in which a job applicant challenged a public employer’s decision to withdraw an offer to employment after the individual tested positive for cocaine has been dismissed by a federal district court. Turner v. Richmond Public Schools, et al., No. 3:16-cv-256…
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Considers Employees’ Use of Medical Marijuana
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently heard oral arguments in a case that asks whether employers can be required to make accommodations for employees’ off-duty use of medical marijuana. The state passed a measure decriminalizing marijuana for…
What You Should Understand About States Without a Drug Testing Law
It is important to understand that, even for states without a drug testing statute, laws and case laws still impact the how, when and who of drug testing. Take California, for instance, where there is a mound of case law that has set legal precedence for workplace…
Florida Employers: Here Comes Medical Marijuana – Are You Ready?
Floridians voted to pass Amendment 2 to legalize marijuana, a change that will expand what has been a very narrow right in the state to be treated with low dose THC cannabis. Under the new amendment, a “qualified patient” is permitted to use or handle medical…
Oregon Legislature’s Attempt to Protect Pot Users Poses Challenges to Employers
Some Oregonians are no doubt breathing clouds of relief with the introduction of Senate Bill 301, the Oregon Legislature’s proposal to protect employees from being fired for personal marijuana use. Employers, on the other hand, may find themselves in a sticky (icky)…
More Colorado Businesses Dropping Pot from Pre-Employment Drug Tests
Blaming low unemployment, Curtis Graves, an attorney with the Mountain States Employers Council, said if the unemployment rate ticked up to 6 or 7 percent, some employers would likely resume testing for marijuana. But, for now, many Colorado businesses are dropping…