Supreme Court Of Canada To Consider Random Alcohol Testing In The Workplace

The Supreme Court of Canada has granted the union leave to appeal in the Irving Pulp & Paper case, in which the New Brunswick Court of Appeal decided that an employer can conduct random alcohol testing of employees in safety sensitive positions in an inherently dangerous workplace, without having to show a pre-existing alcohol problem.

The facts of the case are as follows:

• the employer adopted a policy of mandatory alcohol testing for employees in safety sensitive positions;
• the workplace in question used hazardous materials, including a pressure boiler that could potentially explode, and was located in a city and near water bodies;
• a computer randomly selected employees in safety sensitive positions to be tested by breathalyser;