THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF LEGAL JOBS ON EARTH
LawCrossing Legal Daily News Feature
Drug Tests for State Workers Blocked in Florida On Wednesday, a federal judge in Miami blocked the order of Florida Governor Rick Scott that demanded random drug tests for all state employees and new recruits. U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro criticized the Governor’s logic for the order as “hardly transparent and frankly obscure.” The court held that the executive order for blanket drug testing of state employees violated the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protections against unconstitutional searches and seizures.
04/27/12
The ruling on Wednesday was the result of Scott’s order being challenged by the ACLU and the American
Referring to the Governor, the judge said, “He offers
Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
no plausible rationale explaining why the fact that a
Following the lawsuit, the Governor had suspended
state employee’s work product and financial status are
the order. The lawsuit against the Governor’s order
publicly accessible leads to the conclusions that the
represented more than 85,000 public sector employees.
employee’s expectation of privacy in his or her bodily The ACLU had also challenged another of Scott’s orders
functions and fluids are then diminished.”
that required drug testing of welfare recipients. Since Governor Rick Scott, who is a former healthcare
then, Scott has suspended that order, too, following
executive and has strong ties with the pathological
temporary restraining injunction by a federal judge.
testing and medical facilities sector, said he would Drug test kit sellers and a section of the pathological
challenge the ruling.
testing industry is concerned that the welfare of state “As I have repeatedly explained, I believe that drug
employees in Florida is at stake if the Governor cannot
testing state employees is a common sense means of
manage to pass orders requiring mandatory drug tests.
ensuring a safe, efficient productive workforce,” he said in a statement issued on Thursday. He continued,
The Governor holds that “the public and Florida’s
“That is why so many private employers drug-test, and
taxpayers overwhelmingly support this policy,” though
why the public and Florida’s taxpayers overwhelmingly
85,000 state employees do not.
support this policy. I respectfully disagree with the court’s ruling and will pursue the case on appeal.”
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