Judge Halts Drug Testing Program for Rail Workers
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SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge halted a new drug and alcohol testing program today for 200,000 railroad workers nationwide, saying there was a “reasonable probability” that the tests violate workers’ privacy rights.
U.S. District Judge Charles Legge issued a temporary restraining order sought by labor unions barring railroads from continuing to implement the Federal Railroad Administration program, which took effect at midnight Thursday.
The program, which requires testing after major accidents and authorizes testing on a railroad supervisor’s “reasonable suspicion” that a worker has been drinking, is the first of its kind in a federally regulated transportation industry.
The government could ask Legge to lift his order in a week, but the judge suggested waiting several weeks for a hearing that could resolve the case.
Union lawyers said the testing program is “an unnecessary and unjustified invasion of human dignity.”
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