The Union grieved the Employer’s decision to order the Grievor to undergo post-incident drug and alcohol testing.
The arbitrator held that the drug and alcohol testing was not justified in the circumstances and was a violation of the Grievor’s privacy and bodily integrity rights.
The incident, in which the Grievor accidentally caused a large aerial work platform to contact another machine at low speed, did not rise to the level of a “significant event" as defined in the Employer’s policy and the jurisprudence. There was no significant damage and there were no injuries. The Employer’s speculations that someone could have been injured or there could have been significant damage to property of the Company were very remote possibilities and worst-case scenarios. During the investigation, there was nothing in the Grievor’s responses that would have rationally led to the conclusion that impairment played any role in the incident.
The arbitrator held that testing cannot be used when the only justification is ruling out the possibility of impairment. The Grievor was awarded $1000 in damages.