$150,000 settlement reached in lawsuit brought on behalf of woman whose job offer was rescinded after refusing to comply with policy; Federal judge declared policy unconstitutional in May 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – December 2, 2014
CONTACT: ACLU of Florida Media Office, media@aclufl.org, (786) 363-2737
KEY WEST, FL - Today, a settlement was reached between the City of Key West and a Key West woman who was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida in a challenge to Key West’s policy requiring applicants for jobs with the City to submit to a suspicionless drug test. In the settlement, the City of Key West agrees to pay Key West resident Karen Cabanas Voss and the ACLU of Florida a total of $150,000.
In January 2013, Key West offered Voss a job as its Recycling Coordinator. When she reported to human resources to fill out employee paperwork, the City demanded she provide a urine sample. Voss objected to the City’s across-the-board suspicionless drug testing and complained to the City Attorney’s office that testing of government job applicants can constitutionally be required only for a specific group of “safety-sensitive” positions. Instead of respecting the privacy of Voss and other applicants for employment, Key West revoked the job offer and hired someone else.
On May 9, 2014, U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King rejected the City’s argument—that it could categorically drug test all job applicants even though it could not drug test all employees—because the law does not allow the government to “violate a person’s rights under the Fourth Amendment so long as prior notice of the impending violation is given.” And on October 17, 2014, Judge King added that job applicants denied a position because they refuse to submit to an across-the-board drug test are entitled to money damages.
Responding to today’s settlement, ACLU of Florida staff attorney Shalini Goel Agarwal stated:
“We are pleased that we were able to get justice for our client in this case. Today’s settlement should serve as a notice to all Florida municipalities that requiring people to submit to across-the-board, suspicionless urinalysis violates the Fourth Amendment.
“As the courts have ruled time and time again: no government body can compel people to submit their bodily fluids for government inspection as a condition of holding or applying for a job without a safety reason or actual suspicion of drug use.
“Government employers that continue to test job applicants are recklessly exposing themselves to legal liability for these unconstitutional policies.”
More information about the case is available here: https://aclufl.org/2014/05/12/federal-judge-declares-key-west-city-employee-drug-testing-policy-unconstitutional/
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