Sun: Random drug testing of county workers not legal
Posted by: SB Pietas | 08/14/2008 11:34 PM
So much for that idea.
The way it reads, government employers cannot, but private businesses could. I don't know why government employers are restricted from testing their employees in a way that private businesses can. People are choosing to work for the government, after all, and the government isn't testing the entire population.
The way it reads, government employers cannot, but private businesses could. I don't know why government employers are restricted from testing their employees in a way that private businesses can. People are choosing to work for the government, after all, and the government isn't testing the entire population.
Random drug testing of county workers not legal
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 08/14/2008 09:13:58 PM PDT
The county cannot legally conduct random, mandatory drug testing of county employees, Board of Supervisors Chairman Paul Biane wrote in a letter to Treasurer-Tax Collector Dick Larsen on Thursday.
Biane was responding to Larsen's Wednesday letter recommending the county implement a drug-testing program for exempt employees, the top elected and management officials in the county.
"The idea of mandatory random testing had also occurred to me as a way of fostering a drug-free workplace and maintaining the public's trust. However, I was advised by County Counsel that the California Supreme Court has ruled that such programs are unconstitutional," Biane wrote.
According to a 1997 ruling, government agencies cannot conduct drug or alcohol tests on existing employees in most cases without reasonable cause to believe an employee is under the influence, the letter reads. Such a test would be a violation of the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable government searches and seizures, said county spokesman David Wert.
Larsen called for the testing policy following revelations that County Assessor and former Board Chairman Bill Postmus is on a 10-week medical leave. Sources have confirmed he has an addiction to methamphetamines.
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This is why many sports ban the use of performance enhancing drugs. Another form of doping is blood...
This attempt was nothing more than an attempt by "MyTaxCollector" Dick Larsen to garner good press. He fell flat in what is nothing more than a publicity stunt.
Who knows? Maybe MyTaxCollector Larsen must have felt jealous residing in Obscurityland.
Just about everything our elected officials have done so far in reference to this situation has been a publicity stunt, with the exceptions of calling for Adam's resignation and the County Counsel presentation. As I've stated many times, their lack of action in the past has backed them into a corner. Time will tell what can/will be done about Bill but much of that is out of their hands right now.
For now, each one of them needs to step up to the plate and prove that they did not cover because of their own addictions by taking a voluntary drug test and providing the results to the public. There are too many rumors about continued drug/alcohol use on the Fifth Floor and they need to set the record straight.