Legal Question in Employment Law in Pennsylvania

Employer sharing results of drug screen with others..

Scenario: Employee (age 21) gives urine specimen on a Monday at medical facility designated and routinely utilized by company of his employer. On Tuesday employee's father (who is also employed by same employer) is called into the office of HIS (the father's) supervisor where employee's immediate supervisor is also present. Employee's supervisor then shares the information in the presents of employee's father and father's supervisor, that employee's urine drug screen results were positive.

The supervisor of the the employee's father is a person who is not connected to the employee in any way, i.e. is employed in a separate department and is not a supervisor of the employee.

A message was left on an answering maching by the employee's immediate supervisor stating that the employee failed his drug screen.

Question: Was the employee's immediate supervisor legally permitted to share the information of this employee's urine drug screen with the employee's father and the unrelated employee (father's supervisor). The employee is age 21 and never gave consent, verbal or signed, that any of his information could be shared with anyone else.

Is such information allowed to be stated on an answering machine?

thank you


Asked on 7/27/06, 6:43 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Roger Traversa Arjont Group (Law Office of Roger Traversa)

Re: Employer sharing results of drug screen with others..

You asked if an employer violated the law by sharing the positive results of an employment drug test with supervisors and the employee's father (who is also an employee).

This answer cannot be as specific as I would like because there are many variables that you haven't told. These include the type of job you hold (or held), whether you are in a union, the type of employer, the specific policies of the employer, and so on.

Generally there is a very limited right to privacy in drug test results within an employer organization. An employer wouyld definitely be proscribed from randomly disclosing the positive of a drug test outside of the employer. But business needs within the employer organization would allow some latitude.

An employer may generally share the positive results of an employment drug test within the employer organization especially where there is a need to know. That would specifically include the employee's chain of management. It could also include other managers and potentially employees within the organization.

There could be a constitutional claim which would invalidate the results of the test where the employee's results could be proven to be indiscriminately shared. A note of hope for the employee, if the employee should intend to challenge the results that employee should make certain that s/he is cleam for the inevitable next drug test.

I would be happy to discuss this matter further should there be any questions.

Regards,

Roger Traversa

email: [email protected]

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Answered on 7/27/06, 7:49 pm


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