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Overview of the Baron Drug Testing Case
In 1997, Thomas Baron began working for Interim Accounting Professionals - a temporary agency contracted by the City of Hollywood. Dubbed the "Magic Man" for his work by the city's Treasury Manager Doreen Lam, Baron was responsible for preparing bank reconciliations of all accounts AND maintaining extensive databases on all lease agreement with the city, as well as monitoring other sources of revenue. After receiving positive work reviews from supervisors and accounting managers, Baron decided to apply for an accounting position directly with the city.
As expected, he was offered employment by the City of Hollywood in April 1997, shortly after his three-month period of temporary employment. However, under the city's Drug and Alcohol Abuse Policy, new employees were subject to mandatory drug testing even in the absence of reasonable suspicion that the employee is using or has used drugs. When Baron refused to submit to a urine test as a matter of principle, the city revoked its decision to hire him as an accountant.
The policy in question, HR-98-027, provides that: "[S]ubsequent to a conditional offer of employment, candidates for all full and part time positions shall be required to undergo a drug test. Any person refusing such a test will not be employed … Any applicant who fails the initial screening or chooses not to take or fails to pass a test of confirmation shall not be employed by the City of Hollywood and may not apply for employment with the City of Hollywood for a period of twelve (12) months."
All prospective employees are informed in advance of the test as a condition of employment and must report to Hollywood Medical Center's Emergency Room to provide a urine specimen.
In January 1999, two years after Baron initially began working as a temporary employee for the city, the ACLU filed suit on Baron's behalf seeking a permanent injunction to prevent the City of Hollywood from enforcing its drug testing policy, as well as compensatory damages for Baron. In the initial complaint, ACLU cooperating attorneys asserted that the City of Hollywood violated his constitutional right to be free of unlawful searches and seizures - protections afforded by the Fourth Amendment - by withholding employment from him when he refused to provide a urine sample for further testing.
On April 4, 2000, U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth L. Ryskamp struck down the city's Drug and Alcohol Abuse Policy as unconstitutional, citing the policy's invasive and overbroad provisions as violations of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.
