Reasonable Suspicion Alcohol Test Upheld

Taghleef Industries was justified in requiring a worker to take an alcohol and drug test after returning to work from medical leave for alcohol-related problems, an Indiana court has ruled. The worker’s job at Taghleef was considered dangerous and, after the company learned that repeated absences over many years were in fact due to alcohol-related illness, it insisted that the employee be tested. The results: the worker’s blood alcohol level was .081 at 7:36 a.m. He was fired, but sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act. The judge who ruled against him found that the test was not to determine whether the worker was disabled, but whether he was performing a dangerous job while under the influence.