Is “possession” of marijuana a sufficient reason to conduct a DOT reasonable-suspicion drug test?
No. The employer’s determination that a reasonable suspicion exists to require testing for controlled substances must be based on specific, contemporaneous, articuable observations concerning the appearance, behavior, speech, or body odors of the driver. I have an employee who is getting out of rehab. He did not go into rehab due to a positive test result (or other prohibited drug- or alcohol-related conduct). Does he need to be tested before he returns to driving? If yes, is this a reasonable-suspicion test? 49 CFR Part 382.121 (4) states that an employer must conduct a return-to-duty test before an employee, who has admitted to alcohol and/or drug misuse, can return to a safety-sensitive function. Since it’s a return-to-duty test, the employee needs a verified negative result to return to work. You would not perform a reasonable-suspicion test on an employee getting out of rehab, because this situation does not meet the specific criteria required for a reasonable-suspicion test.
