Hello all. I wanted to post this story and gain some opinions on this. For the last 3 years Ive had a great paying job as a Customer Service rep for our local power company. I passed the pre-employment drug test and since then I had been an every day smoker as I’m sure many of my co-workers were. In September it was announced at work that phone operators would be drug tested because we were moving into the natural gas business and federal DOT regulations required it. I was drug tested on September 12th. On October 1st I was contacted by the company’s safety officer who informed me I had failed the DOT drug test and would be placed on medical leave to get clean and would receive my salary during this time. She said “compliance was the key to keeping my job.” I was ordered to attend counseling sessions and two attend 8 AA meetings which I fully complied with. I also immediately stopped my marijuana usage. Also i was to get occasional urine tests from my primary care doctor to determine when my levels got to 15NG. Once at 15 NG i would take an observed urine test and return to work. Throughout October and November I had tests done at my doctors office which showed consistently decreasing levels. On December 3rd my doctors office called and said I was at 12NG. I contacted my employer and we scheduled my return to work test for the 4th. 3 days later I was contacted by the medical review officer and told my levels were at 68NG. I was floored...speechless. This was not what I was expecting and my future was in jeopardy. At 45 years old I was gonna lose the highest paying job I ever had cause I smoked some pot. The MRO didn’t wanna hear anything I had to say regarding my doctors tests. He basically shrugged it off and said his job was to simply report the lab findings to Human Resources. 2 days later I was called by Human Resources and terminated. i was 10 days from being fully vested in my 401k. I lost thousands of dollars of employer matched contributions. I lost my health insurance and of course no one believes me. HR wouldn’t / couldn’t allow me to submit any other findings. The truth is though... i have not smoked. How about that?
You're another victim of the war on drugs. They probably wanted to get rid of you the second you failed the first drug test
The thing is no one can answer the obvious and burning question... how does 2 separate urine tests show 2 different results. Of course every one involved just shrugs and looks at me like “ well... you must’ve used marijuana” but I legitimately didn’t. I knew the repercussions. I knew my good job was on the line.
Such bs.. Clearly the cut off levels were diff for each lab. I'm pretty sure that's it. Fucking govt. But its OK to go home. Drink a 5th of jack n beat ur wife. Lol
Get copies of pertinent records from your primary care practice, the lab they use, the employer, and your counsellors... Work up a concise word doc of the situation.... Speak with an attorney's office that has experience with labor disputes/wrongful dismissal... IMO... this job may be gone, but you may have damages for wrongful severance coming from them... and get a clean reference for the next job search...
Go back to your primary care immediately and have them perform another drug test. The numbers should coincide with their previous tests and show numbers going down. That would at least possibly help to show the work test was false. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Tell the truth were you hanging out with smokers? Were you eating that bread with that seed stuff that makes your piss look dirty
Get yourself retested two days ago by a third party lol Cry foul on their sample, demand a retest as well.
Get a good lawyer, specializing in employment law. Have the doctor's results sent to the lawyer. Sounds like they want to get our of paying what you're due. A judge/jury would never rule in their favor. In fact you might ask for a cash settlement and/or your job back.
Thank you for sharing your experience, but I really can't agree with you. You worked in a very big company, and usually, in such companies, reputation is very important so this is why they were making drug tests. They made you a warning, after the first test, and of course, they fired you after they found the substances after the second drug test. Always people that consume marijuana can't manage correctly their money, and it is hard for them to concentrate. This is why people don't like to see them making some important jobs, as you had. I can suggest starting having a healthy lifestyle. _______________ Is $40,000 A Good Salary? And Can You Live Off It Today?
i am not surprised. it happens all of the time. try fighting it tho and they won’t. you can file a wrongful termination suit. you allready have proof of your declining test levels what will kill it for you is that you did not take a test at the alternative location AFTER you took the failed test to show your levels continue to decline and to prove that the other place test was wrong they always have false positives
the government does not want him to succeed. they want to keep him down and everyone else. they want everyone to be dependent on the government
Very sorry to hear about your situation. I had to give it up for 13 yrs to protect my job & pension. Knowing what your company required and what the consequences would be I wish you would have made better choices. Sometimes we have to play by other peoples rules. Your job loss story isn't all that unbelievable.