Court Enjoins 3M’s Drug Screenings of Camarillo Workers

A Ventura County judge Tuesday ordered a halt to a drug-screening program at the 3M plant in Camarillo, saying the company’s mandatory tests violate employees’ right to privacy.

Superior Court Judge Alan L. Steele issued a preliminary injunction against 3M in a lawsuit filed by Michael A. Mora, 31, of Ventura who was suspended from his job at the plant in June after he refused to take a company drug test.

It is the third time a California judge has stopped a company’s drug-testing program based on a 1974 amendment to the state Constitution that declares privacy an inalienable right, according to the the American Civil Liberties Union, which has opposed such testing.

The other two actions, in October and November, were temporary restraining orders issued before there were court hearings, ACLU spokeswoman Jean Hom said. A preliminary injunction is issued after an evidentiary hearing and remains in effect until the judge lifts it, or it is overturned on appeal.

Could Become Precedent

Although none of the state court rulings on company drug-testing plans has been at the appellate level, where it might become a precedent for other cases, Richard A. Weinstock, who represented Mora, predicted that Monday’s ruling could change the way many California companies conduct anti-drug programs.

“Although this decision only affects this one firm, word of this ruling will certainly get around,” he said.

Attorneys for 3M would not say whether the firm will appeal the decision. Company spokeswoman Kitty Dill said 3M will immediately stop its random drug-testing program in Camarillo.

In explaining his ruling, Steele said that the Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. failed to show that its 11-month-old random drug-testing program significantly increased safety for the about 1,000 employees at the plant. A drug-testing program’s effect on workers’ rights to privacy might be outweighed if the program alleviated a serious safety problem, the judge said.

The judge also said that he might have ruled in 3M’s favor if the company could have shown that its drug-testing program had significantly reduced a “major drug problem” at the plant.

No Change Shown

“But I just don’t see it,” Steele said in court, adding that the firm did not show that employee accidents or productivity had been adversely affected by drug or alcohol abuse.

Only five employees at the plant have been identified as drug or alcohol abusers, the judge said. Meanwhile, the drug program penalized loyal, longtime employees, he said.

“These people are being told to submit to a test or risk being fired, but what have they done?” Steele said.

According to evidence presented by 3M attorney Thomas J. Ready, of 743 employees tested since the program went into effect last February, 15 tested positive for marijuana use, 12 tested positive for cocaine use and five had traces of alcohol in their blood.

Ready said the 3M drug-testing plan was created in part at the request of about 30 employees who had complained to management about the use and sale of drugs at the plant. The company’s attorney argued that the drug-testing program did not violate the state constitutional guarantee of privacy because the results were kept “under lock and key.”

All of the employees at the 3M plant in Camarillo, including management, were subject to at least one random drug test a year under the ambitious anti-drug program. Drug testing for all job applicants at the 40-acre facility was begun a month earlier.

A company computer randomly selected the names of 25 employees each week for testing. They were tested for traces of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, amphetamines, barbiturates and alcohol.

Employees who tested positive for drugs or alcohol have been offered counseling and referral to a rehabilitation program. Those who tested positive a second time were subject to firing, the company said, although no employees have been dismissed.

Mora, a seven-year employee who seals cartons at the plant, was suspended for two weeks without pay June 26 for refusing to take a urine test, Weinstock said. Mora went to his own physician for a urinalysis, which showed no traces of drug use, the attorney said.

2 Joined Lawsuit

Two other 3M employees--an electrical engineer and a secretary--later joined Mora as plaintiffs in the suit. The three employees declined to comment on the ruling.

Weinstock was one of three Ventura County lawyers who met with 3M employees when the drug testing began last winter and advised them that the plan violated several state and federal civil-rights provisions, including the state Constitution’s protection against the collection and misuse of personal information by private employers or government.

The employees’ suit argued that 3M does not have the right to require drug tests if employees do not exhibit any drug- or alcohol-related problems on the job.

The Camarillo plant, one of Ventura County’s largest employers, produces computer tapes, diskettes and other magnetic tape products. It is the only one of 140 3M plants worldwide to have a mandatory drug-testing program, Dill said.

At least 30% of the Fortune 500 companies are doing some form of drug testing, mostly for job applicants.

A survey by the Raleigh, N.C.-based research firm of Noel Dunivant & Associates also found that, of the companies using drug screening, only 13% conducted random tests of current employees, as in the 3M program in Camarillo. Eighty percent used the tests for pre-employment screening and 47% administered them after accidents in which drug use was a probable cause, the study found.