Rail Workers’ Drug, Alcohol Tests Blocked

A federal court judge Friday halted a new drug and alcohol testing program for 200,000 railroad workers nationwide, saying there was a “reasonable probability” that the tests violated workers’ rights of privacy.

U.S. District Judge Charles Legge issued a temporary restraining order sought by labor unions barring railroads from continuing to implement the federal Railroad Administration program, which took effect midnight Thursday.

The program, which requires testing after major accidents and authorizes testing on a railroad supervisor’s “reasonable suspicion” that a worker has been drinking, is the first of its kind in a federally regulated transportation industry.

Legge heard arguments Thursday but deferred his ruling until Friday, after being told by Justice Department lawyer Steve Hart that railroads were unlikely to start testing “on the stroke of midnight.”

Suggestion Made

The government could ask Legge to lift his order in a week, but the judge suggested waiting several weeks pending a hearing.

Government lawyers said they were awaiting instructions from Washington.

In papers filed with Legge, attorneys for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers in Fremont, Calif., and Railroad Signalmen’s Union of Mount Prospect, Ill., argued the new regulations violate constitutional safeguards against unreasonable search and seizure.

The testing program is “an unnecessary and unjustified invasion of human dignity,” the lawyers said.

The judge said the unions had raised a serious question of whether testing should be allowed without more evidence that a worker is intoxicated.

“The government has a right, has a duty, to pass regulations to preserve the public safety,” Legge said. However, he added, there were “many hundreds, even thousands of individuals whose Fourth Amendment rights (against illegal searches) could be in serious jeopardy” if the testing is found to violate privacy rights.

The regulations, under preparation for two years, authorize major railroads to conduct breath or urine tests for drugs or alcohol on non-supervisory workers if:

- A supervisor has a “reasonable suspicion,” based on factual observations, that a worker is under the influence of alcohol or alcohol combined with drugs.

- A worker is suspected of causing or contributing to a railroad accident.

- A worker has been directly involved in any of a variety of rule violations, including exceeding the speed limit by 10 m.p.h., passing through a stop signal or failing to secure a hand brake.

“There’s probably something wrong with the performance of a person who violates those rules,” Hart said, disputing union contentions that the violations provided no basis for drug or alcohol tests.

Other portions of the rules, effective Dec. 1, require railroads to administer blood and urine tests to anyone in a crew involved in a train accident that causes death, major injury, major damage to railroad property or a damaging release of a hazardous substance.

Refusal to take a test is grounds for a nine-month suspension. If a test detects drugs or alcohol, a worker can be fired or suspended, subject to procedures in the union contract.

Union lawyer Lawrence Mann said no testing should be allowed unless there was “probable cause” that an employee had been drinking or taking drugs. The standard, used for searches in criminal cases, is stricter than “reasonable suspicion” or automatic testing after accidents.

Different Figures

The two sides relied on contrasting government statistics.

The unions said that between 1975 and 1984, the government reported possible alcohol or drug involvement in only 28 out of 76,000 train accidents and 20 of 549,000 “incidents” involving damage caused by train operations.

However, Hart said at least 9% of the “major accidents” in a 10-year period involved alcohol or drugs and testing might point to a much higher percentage.