The Nation - News from Oct. 2, 1986

A federal appeals panel ruled that Burlington Northern Railroad Co. can require employees involved in accidents or returning from seasonal furloughs to take a drug test. The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees had sought to block the testing on grounds that it was a major change from the union’s contract. U.S. District Judge Donald E. O’Brien in Iowa refused to block the testing of employees involved in accidents, but issued an injunction against testing of workers returning from a seasonal furlough. Both sides appealed the ruling to the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel upheld the first ruling and reversed the second.