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2 Emp. Resp. & Rts. J. 1 (1989)

handle is hein.journals/emprrj2 and id is 1 raw text is: Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1989 Drug Testing in the Workplace: An Overview of Legal and Philosophical Issues Patricia A. Greenfield,' Ronald J. Karren,I and Jane K. Giacobbe2 This article examines a range of legal and philosophical issues related to the drug- testing debate. The discussion of legal issues includes potential litigation on constitu- tional grounds (for public employees), statutory and tort grounds, or on the basis of civil rights legislation. Arbitration standards are also examined for situations in- volving unionized employees. The article further highlights pragmatic issues including the accuracy and costs (economic and noneconomic) of drug tests as well as the dis- tinction between a positive drug test and impaired performance. Finally, the article addresses the delicate balance between an employer's right to unimpaired performance and an employee's right to privacy. KEY WORDS: drug testing; legal and philosophical aspects of drug testing; arbitration and drug testing; accuracy and costs of drug testing. INTRODUCTION Item: Jane Doe comes into work Tuesday morning. Instead of reporting to her desk, she is told to go to the ladies' room with all other employees and a supervisor and to produce a urine sample for the purpose of testing for drugs. She tests positive for illegal drugs and is told she must either attend a drug rehabilitation program or be dismissed. She will be retested at the end of the rehabilitation period and if the test is again found positive, she will be dismissed. This scenario, which has been repeated in a number of workplaces over the last several years, has given rise to much public debate over the appropriateness of drug testing in the workplace. The debate has involved a variety of groups, including poli- ticians, doctors, lawyers, scientists, arbitrators, managers, unions, and individual workers, and has encompassed a range of legal, attitudinal, economic, arbitral, ethi- cal, and policy issues. The articles in this symposium address a number of questions concerning these issues. Questions include: Where does the law stand in regard to drug testing? What 'Department of Management, School of Management, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003. 2Department of Management, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019. 0892-7545/89/0300-0001$06.00/0 © 1989 Plenum Publishing Corporation

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