Legal Issues of Drug Testing: Public Employers (From Combating Substance Abuse in the Workplace, William F Banta, Forest Tennant, 1989, P 81-104)

• NCJ Number: 162190
• Author(s): W F Banta; F Tennant
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 23 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC

Annotation

This chapter explains laws with potential applicability to drug screening of applicants and employees by public employers.

Abstract

The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 does not specifically authorize testing or searches but requires employers to adopt and implement antidrug programs. The line separating public and private employers is a critical demarcation, with profound legal ramifications. This chapter describes Executive Order 12564, which extends considerable discretion to various federal agencies for implementing drug testing; judicial background of the Order; litigation triggered by the Order; landmark decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court pertaining to drug testing; and application of judicial principles. This review indicates that the U.S. Constitution (principally the Fourth Amendment) and an ambiguous right-to-privacy doctrine are the laws applicable to drug testing in the Federal sector, but there are other statutes possibly available to Federal employees not hired, fired, or otherwise adversely affected by drug screening, including the Federal Privacy Act, the Civil Service Reform Act, and the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Note, references