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Is mandatory drug testing legal the state of California?

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H

hoboda

Guest
California
Mandatory drug testing is it legal in state of California?
What can be done legaly when drug test comes back with a false positive and the company terminates.
 


L

loku

Guest
You possibly have a good case here, depending on facts you did not post. In the first place, a drug test violates the employee’s right to privacy unless the employer can demonstrate a "compelling interest" for impinging on an employee's right of privacy. If there was no direct connection between your duties and the potential harm of the drug use, then the employer violated your right to privacy.

Secondly, if your employer hires more than 24 employees, the employer is required to reasonably accommodate any employee who wishes to voluntarily enter and participate in an alcohol or drug rehabilitation program, provided that this reasonable accommodation does not impose an undue hardship on the employer. You may have a case here also, if your employer hires more than 24 people.

Following is the law:

The issue of whether current employees could be tested (for drugs) was examined in Luck v. So. Pacific Transportation Co. There, an employee was fired when he refused to submit to a surprise, random drug test. The employee claimed that such a demand violated his right to privacy. The court and the jury agreed, and awarded the employee half a million dollars in damages.

The Court of Appeal allowed the judgment to stand, holding that in the case of existing employees, the employer must demonstrate a "compelling interest" for impinging on an employee's right of privacy. The court did not say that drug testing of current employees is inherently unconstitutional, but said that there must be a direct connection between the employee's duties and the potential harm of the drug use.
California Labor Code 1025. Every private employer regularly employing 25 or more employees shall reasonably accommodate any employee who wishes to voluntarily enter and participate in an alcohol or drug rehabilitation program, provided that this reasonable accommodation does not impose an undue hardship on the employer. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit an employer from refusing to hire, or discharging an employee who, because of the employee's current use of alcohol or drugs, is unable to perform his or her duties, or cannot perform the duties in a manner which would not endanger his or her health or safety or the health or safety of others.

California Labor Code 1028. An employee may file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner if he or she believes that he or she has been denied reasonable accommodation as required by this chapter.


If you feel the above applies to you, you can file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner, or you can hire an employment law attorney to sue for wrongful termination and invasion of your right to privacy.
 

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