Court Upholds Ruling Against Mandatory Pre-Access Drug/Alcohol Testing

A union challenged a company’s requirement that contractors perform universal mandatory drug and alcohol testing before workers may have access to its worksites. The arbitrator noted that there was no evidence of drug or alcohol issues at the worksites and concluded that there was no demonstrable need for the pre-access testing sufficient to justify the significant invasion of privacy inherent in such testing. On appeal, the court agreed with the arbitrator, ruling that his conclusions were reasonable [Mechanical Contractors Assn. Sarnia v. United Assn. of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry, [2014] ONSC 6909 (CanLII), Nov. 27, 2014].