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 drug abuse was a problem with city employees or with applicants for city jobs and that it did not require employees in this position or in related positions to be tested randomly for drug use. If it had been a private sector employer, its drug testing program probably would have been fine, but public employers do not have the same freedom.

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