Legal Question in Employment Law in Kansas
An unstable employee at my job was being escorted out of the building. He started making accusations about drug use by other employees. He then made a direct death threat against our supervisor, who was not present at that time. Insted of dealing with the death threat or even contacting our supervisor, our HR department shut down production of our shift only and ordered all employees of our shift only to submit to drug testing. They have not tested anyone other than our shift, sighting reasonable cause. They have suspended the entire shift pending the outcome of this investigation. We have been kept in the dark and out of the building while day shift employees have been allowed to openly discuss this investigation. We know that there are employees on the day shift who use recreational drugs but are not looking to cause any more trouble than needed. What should we do?
1 Answer from Attorneys
I assume you are employed in Kansas in giving this answer. Every state has different laws. If you company has an employee policy handbook, it will be relevant on procedure also, but may not be binding on the company.
Are you suspended with or without pay? If with pay, the Kansas court would probably not find the suspension unreasonable.
Of course the big issue will be what your drug test shows. If it is negative and company pays you while on suspension and puts nothing negative in your employment record, you have little damage.
If it is positive and company disciplines or terminates you, you may have a claim for wrongful discipline or termination, based on all the facts and circumstances. Company will argue it had good cause based on fired employees statements and that it treated everyone the same, which is a strong argument.
I do not trust the drug tests. I always advise my client to have your own test done by your own doc or lab as soon after the company's test as possible. May be too late for that.
If negative test, you need a lawyer to represent you. We offer a free consultation.
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