A Comprehensive Assessment of Employment Drug Testing: Legal Battles over Delicate Interests

In this Article, Professor Plass, examines the development of the law in the area of drug testing in the public and private workplace. The author explores the law's impact on the relationship between employer and employee. Specifically, he cites the rising use of drugs in the United States for the proposition that, as time passes, people will harden and accept testing and related intrusions as a quid pro quo for initial or continued employment. Reviewing the pertinent case law and statutory law on the subject, the author assures the reader that numerous protections exist to guard against indiscriminate testing by employers.

Though the current state of the law provides guideposts for employers to follow to determine whether testing is justified, it falls short of providing insight into the extent to which testing will impact or erode the traditional relationship between employee and management.