Tag: Drug Testing

marijuana

A Cautionary Tale Regarding the ‘Reasonable Belief’ Doctrine

On January 31, the Sixth Circuit published a cautionary tale regarding the “reasonable belief” doctrine involving an employer that fired a disabled employee for a positive drug test for “marijuana.” Airgas USA Sued for Disability Discrimination Over Employee’s Hemp Use In Fisher v. Airgas USA, LLC, Fisher was an operation technician who used power tools, worked […]

It’s High Time to Review Your Drug Testing Policy

As the marijuana legalization and decriminalization trend continues throughout states across the nation (including with recent April 2022 action by the U.S. House of Representatives), now is a good time for all employers to review and update your drug testing policies.

ADA Doesn’t Protect Train Engineer From Turning Over Medical Records

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) limits an employer’s right to require a current employee to provide information about his medical conditions. Only in situations where the need to obtain such health information is necessary to determine whether the employee can perform the job functions and do so in a safe manner is the medical […]

Court Upholds Arbitrator’s Reinstatement of Employee Fired for Positive Drug Test

A federal district court in Massachusetts recently issued a decision that serves as a good reminder to employers to review their policies related to employee drug or alcohol use both on and off duty and ensure they are consistently applied. While the case involved a unionized employer, even nonunion employers should review the decision because […]

Employee Drug Testing in Iowa Receives Further Clarity

The Iowa Supreme Court recently issued important decisions about the state’s private-sector drug-free-workplace statute. Iowa Code Section 730.5 is a complex statute containing numerous application pitfalls for employers. Read on to learn more about the consequential case. Facts Four employees in safety-sensitive positions at a Casey’s General Stores distribution warehouse lost their jobs after random […]

Sha’Carri Richardson and Workplace Drug Testing

As previous pieces I have written for this blog demonstrate, I am a huge track and field fan, so much so that I listen to multiple track-related podcasts, watch meets on television whenever I can, and once got embarrassingly excited when I came across sprinter Mike Rodgers DJing in an Austin bar during the weekend […]

Van from TV’s Atlanta Helps Us Explore Drug Testing in the Workplace

Before Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino) was singing duets with Beyonce, he was the brains behind TV’s Atlanta, a comedy-drama filmed and based in Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta chronicles the efforts of Earnest “Earn” Marks (Donald Glover), a thirtysomething Princeton dropout, and his cousin Alfred Miles, up-and-coming rapper Paperboi (Bryan Tyree Henry), to navigate the Atlanta […]