1. Was the employee right to refuse the drug test?

Question

Q#2:if you were the union president, how will you fight management in the dismissal of your member?
Most of d paper mill's employees thought dat 1 of their coworkers got of easy when, after being convicted of cocaine possession, d company took him back with d understanding dat for d nxt year he would b subjected to "spot drug testing." It was also understood that, of course,if such testing disclosed use of an illegal substance, he would b fired. Shortly thereafter, d employee ws injured in an automobile accident & placed on d sick list for 2 months.When he returned, management thought it d right time for a urine test. A security guard escorted d man to d physician,who askd him to provide a sample under supervision. The employee did not refuse;he just insisted that he unable to provide the sample. He was offered water and other liquids to drink but nothing helped. After several hours, the doctor threatened to obtain a sample by catheterization. Still the employee refuse. He was fired

Answer 1

I would not be staking the reputation of my union on someone who agreed to specific terms, and then refused to follow through. This individuals actions make him appear to be guilty. If I were the union president I would protect my union, by standing by the argument that he did not honor his commitment.

If he agreed to the terms of drug testing, and he was not using drugs, he would have no excuse in not taking the test. Under normal circumstances, with water consumption, no one would have any excuse in not being able to take the urine test within 2 hours of drinking fluids. He could have also offered to give blood, if he truly had nothing to hide.

As to concerns about legal medications he may have been issued. If they were legally issued, and he discloses them to the testing facility, those medications would not be held against him in drug testing. This sounds like someone your company is better off without.

You pick your battles. You don't fight to save someone who's obviously not a man of their word. You fight for the honorable employees in your union.

Answer 2

If you do belong to a union, there is no simple answer. It depends on the specific wording of the collective agreement. If this can be interpreted to allow drug testing, that person may have to take the test; and if s/he refuses, they could be suspended, demoted, or fired. They should contact the union representative before agreeing to or refusing any test. Regardless of any collective agreement, the employer may be able to test if a person is suspected of drug impairment on the job or of drug dependence. If there is evidence of a significant problem with drug use at the workplace, and there is no other reasonable means to monitor employees, the employer may also be able to do random drug testing. Implementing a drug-testing policy properly takes ongoing effort and vigilance. Since drug and alcohol use is linked to increased hazards on the job employers will have more freedom to discipline employees if the affected jobs involve safety risks to co-workers or the public, such as jobs related to child or senior care, public safety (fire, police), transportation, or jobs involving machinery. Employers must inform all affected employees in writing of policy requirements and disciplinary consequences of drug and/or alcohol use and the refusal to undergo testing.

Generally, should an individual employee refuse to undergo a drug test the employer may transfer the employee to a less sensitive job, demote the employee, terminate the employee and/or provide the employee with the option to undergo drug counseling. Random or unannounced testing should not be utilized unless the employees to be tested perform functions that would result in immediate and serious personal injury or property damage if impaired by drug or alcohol use.

Answer 3

yes.I have been through that predictamint where I could urinate for a drug test fir a interview.I drunk water after water and nothing happened.So I waited another hour and a small amount came out.A cather hurts and I do not blame the employee to refuse the cather.It hurts worser for a male than a female.They should have taken a sample from his doctor because you have to see your doctor the day before you are allowed to return to work.
They could have him make an appointment with his doctor to do a blood test IF he couldn't urinate and it would have been more accurate.I don't blame the guy because he may have thought he would captur a virus from their(maybe unsterlized) needles.

Answer 4

Union or non-union, if it's agreed upon that "said employee" had to submit to UA, failure to submit can result in termination. It seems like there was plenty of reasonable cause here for random testing. Sounds like management could have waited and kept "said employee" in the office until he could urinate as well. Bottom line is refusal is grounds for dismissal.

In a union you're terminated but can still file a grievance.

Answer 5

You'll find that when you hired onto the company you probably signed a piece of paper that allows for random drug screening as well as screening if they have probable cause to believe you are using drugs. There is no law on this. It's an employer set rule as a condition of your employment. While you may think it sucks, they only way to get away from this is to find another job where drug screening doesn't happen. And those jobs are getting harder and harder to find.

Answer 6

I do not believe that legally they can fire him because he could not obtain a sample. Secondly, since he was in a car accident, he may have been on medication and being scared that it would show up and not thinking straight, he didn't urinate for that reason. If he was with my husband's union, they would go to arbitration for the guy because though the doctor "threatened" he should have done the cathe and got the urine and if it showed a narcotic that was prescribed by a doc because of his accident, then he would've been in the clear-- if it was another narcotic without a script- he would deserve to be dismissed.

Answer 7

Well this is a tricky one. If the employee was physically unable to provide a specemin, I don't think he should have been fired. I believe the employee should consult a workers' rights attorney or the US Dept of Labor to help with this case. After an auto accident, injuries and medicine he takes may make it more difficult to urinate on command.

Answer 8

No. You can't refuse to submit to a drug test if your company requests one. If that were the case people would just continue to use drugs and refuse drug tests if they thought they might test positive. The company had every right to fire him.

Answer 9

The guy did not live up to his terms of employment ..he should have prpvided the sample..

Answer 10

fire him...
employee refused..
why not a blood test?