Governor Scott and Mandatory Drug Testing

Governor Scott and Mandatory Drug Testing:

A recent article published in the Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/27/v-fullstory/2137314/gov-rick-scotts-drug-testing-order.html reports that Governor Scott signed an executive order last week that requires drug testing for many current state workers and job applicants. According to the article “Scott’s order applies to all employees and prospective hires in agencies that answer to the governor, and could affect as many as 100,000 people. Scott also supports a state Senate bill that requires all cash-assistance welfare recipients over the age of 18 to pay for and receive a drug test, a policy that could affect about 58,000 people.”

But is this executive order legal?

* In April 2000 U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth L. Ryskamp ruled that governments cannot require prospective employees to take drug tests unless there is a “special need,’’ such as safety. Ryskamp’s ruling led other South Florida cities, such as Pembroke Pines, to abandon their policy of drug testing all job applicants.
* Random drug-testing of current government workers also has been limited to those in jobs that affect public safety and to cases where a reasonable suspicion of abuse exists, according to a December 2004 federal court ruling in a case that involved Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice. In that case, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle ruled that the DJJ violated the Fourth Amendment in ordering random drug-testing of all the agency’s 5,000-plus employees.
* State agencies already are allowed, but not required, to screen job applicants for drugs, under the Florida Drug-Free Workplaces Act. The law allows state agencies to test employees if there is a reasonable suspicion that workers are on drugs. But that suspicion must be well-documented and employees must be informed of the policy prior to testing.
* Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, said Scott is taking a “simplistic” approach to the law, pitting the public’s expectation of a “right to know” against each individual state worker’s right to privacy.

The article concludes that though no legal challenge to the governor’s order has been filed, one will be forthcoming.
I urge all of you to support the ACLU of Florida in their efforts to fight back against government intrusion into our lives camouflaged in the shroud of transparency.

Yours
Bernd