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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

U.S. Steel Alcohol Tests Win in Court

I had a speaking engagement yesterday evening and another one on Thursday, so my blogging will be a little light this week. I did want to toss this story out there though: Judge Throws Out EEOC Case Over Alcohol Tests at U.S. Steel.

A federal judge in W.D. Pa. threw out a "case the commission (EEOC) brought against U.S. Steel Corp over random alcohol testing for new employees at a plant in western Pennsylvania." An employee filed a lawsuit claiming that she was dismissed for a false positive caused by her diabetes. USS settled the individual case, but the EEOC continued its claims against the policy.

As I have mentioned previously, I interned at U.S. Steel in 1999. The plant in question is one of three in the "Mon Valley Works." I worked at one plant (Irvin) and toured another (Edgar Thomson) but have never been to this specific plant. That said, based on my experience in the other two (which was about 14 years ago) - they can be very dangerous! The thought of somebody operating that kind of machinery (or even being around it) while drunk or "buzzed" is horrifying. So, I can certainly understand why USS would want to take the precaution.

HT to Mike Chittenden vie email, and for some more analysis on the topic, check out Robin Shea's post: I'll be darned! Court finds that random alcohol tests don't always violate the ADA.

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