I work as a residential contractor at a larger company. The larger company brought my company in to be randomly drug tested. We had to fill out paper work giving our consent to take the drug test and what not. On one of the papers was a list of the drugs they would be testing for. Weed, coke, opiates, meth, alcohol. NOT listed on the paper, Benzodiazpines, the only thing I was worried for failing because like most of america, I don't have health insurance and had been taking alprazolam to help deal with my anxiety. I was not taking it recreationally by any means (I know there is no excuse. I was not prescribed therefore should not have been taking it). So when they passed out our tests, (urine sample test) it had benzo's listed as one of the drugs being tested. I took my test, failed for only the benzo's, and was fired. My question is, can they test for something that I did not give my consent for? More so can they fire me for this? This may be a stupid question but I just finally got my **** straightened out. Good job, started collage, had a child... and I'm just a little flustered by all this. Please let me know asap

Sure they can... I assume you are an AT-WILL employee... and they really don't need much of a reason to fire you. Or any reason at all for that matter. You are working at their will, as well as at your own.

If you are a member of a union... thus having a labor contract, then you should take it up with your shop Steward.

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Originally Posted by kdigz8187

My question is, can they test for something that I did not give my consent for? More so can they fire me for this?

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Hello kd:

My friend, smoothy, is CLOSE - but no cigar... He's right, in that an at will employee can be fired for ANY reason, or no reason at all.. But, they can't LIE to you in order to do it, and that's exactly what they did. You gave them permission to do thus and so, and they did MORE than that.

If you want your job back, I'd write them a certified letter explaining how they damaged you, BUT that you'll be willing to overlook it, IF they rehire you and give you all your back pay. Send your letter return receipt requested... Give them 72 hours to respond, and if they don't, sue them.

excon

If you had a doctor prescribe this medication then you would have a good reason NOT to have been fired, but since you are taking it with NO rx, then by all means they can fire you for drug abuse. They can test for any kind of illegal drugs. If you had an rx you would have brought the pill bottle showing it was prescribed for you to the testing site and showed them the bottle PRIOR to being tested showing you have doctor's rx for this. Then they could NOT have fired you.

This would be the ONLY way you can keep your job or be rehired. Just being picky as to what drugs were listed on their paper isn't going to cut it.

This a tough one. The point of the matter is, like others have said At will is something that employers use to their advantage. The are well witin their rights to fire you, especially since you were not clinically prescribed the drug. This is a time when prescription medicaton is frequently misused and abused. However, f the terms of your drug test was altered (especially since you had to give them permission) technically that was contract between you and the employer. If I were you, I would consult with a labor attorney. There might be something there. Even if you can't get your job back, there might be room from a small compensation package. Hope this helps.