Drug Tests for State Workers Blocked in Florida

04/27/12

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.


Referring to the Governor, the judge said, “He offers no plausible rationale explaining why the fact that a state employee's work product and financial status are publicly accessible leads to the conclusions that the employee's expectation of privacy in his or her bodily functions and fluids are then diminished.”

Governor Rick Scott, who is a former healthcare executive and has strong ties with the pathological testing and medical facilities sector, said he would challenge the ruling.

“As I have repeatedly explained, I believe that drug testing state employees is a common sense means of ensuring a safe, efficient productive workforce,” he said in a statement issued on Thursday. He continued, “That is why so many private employers drug-test, and why the public and Florida's taxpayers overwhelmingly support this policy. I respectfully disagree with the court's ruling and will pursue the case on appeal.”

The ruling on Wednesday was the result of Scott's order being challenged by the ACLU and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Following the lawsuit, the Governor had suspended the order. The lawsuit against the Governor's order represented more than 85,000 public sector employees.

The ACLU had also challenged another of Scott's orders that required drug testing of welfare recipients. Since then, Scott has suspended that order, too, following temporary restraining injunction by a federal judge.

Drug test kit sellers and a section of the pathological testing industry is concerned that the welfare of state employees in Florida is at stake if the Governor cannot manage to pass orders requiring mandatory drug tests.

The Governor holds that “the public and Florida's taxpayers overwhelmingly support this policy,” though 85,000 state employees do not.