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Refusal to Take a Drug Test
Generally, employers are allowed to test their employees (or prospective employees) for illegal drugs. There are some laws in place to prevent arbitrary drug testing, and to protect employee privacy, but if submitting to drug tests is a term of employment, employers are basically free to conduct as many drug tests as they like.
Because employers have the right to conduct drug tests as they please, they have the power to enforce that right. They can generally terminate employees for refusing to take a drug test, or impose other discipline (such as demotion or suspension).
There are some exceptions to this rule. For example, if an employee has a disability which prevents him or her from taking the drug test in the standard manner or time, the Americans with Disabilities Act would require the employer to make a “reasonable accommodation” for the employee. With drug tests, this might mean allowing a different type of test to be given, or allowing the test to be given at a different time or place.
Also, if an employee who was terminated for refusing to take a drug test shows that other employees of a different race, religion, or sex engaged in the same conduct but were treated differently, he or she might have a claim for discrimination.
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