Tag Archives: drug test

Fired LA County Firefighter Claims Disability Discrimination

A Los Angeles County firefighter who was terminated following a positive drug test has filed suit claiming the results were a false positive due to a lawfully prescribed medication he was taking for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Joseph Allen was fired on May 17, 2022 following a random test on April 14, 2022.

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Retaliation Suit Against LA City Dismissed

A probationary firefighter with the Los Angeles City Fire Department who filed suit in 2020 contending his termination was retaliation for complaining about hazing and harassment, has agreed to dismiss his suit. Daniel Eble sued the city in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging five state law employment violations.

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Houston Firefighter Reinstated Following Procedural Error in Drug Testing

A Houston firefighter who was fired following a positive drug test in 2019, has been ordered reinstated by the Texas Court of Appeals because the city failed to comply with its own procedural requirements to inform him of his right to request a "referee test.” FF Pete Cortez was selected for random urinalysis testing in January, 2019.

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Connecticut Court Sidesteps Firefighter Medical Marijuana Challenge

The Superior Court of Connecticut in Waterbury handed down a decision earlier this month that raised four important questions: Can a fire department discipline a firefighter who tests positive for marijuana if the member is legally authorized to use medical marijuana? Are last chance agreements of over one year enforceable? Does a last chance agreement supersede a collective bargaining agreement...

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Florida Retaliation Suit Voluntarily Dismissed

A lawsuit accusing the Town of Palm Beach, an Assistant Fire Chief and the town’s risk manager of malicious prosecution, negligent infliction of emotional distress, civil rights violations, false arrest/imprisonment and retaliation has been voluntarily dismissed.

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Honolulu Fire Confronts Medical Marijuana Test Case

A Honolulu firefighter with a prescription for medical marijuana who tested positive on random testing will keep his job, but must complete counseling and stop using the drug. The unidentified firefighter reportedly has a medical marijuana card and can lawfully possess and use the drug. However, the Hawaii law that legalizes medical marijuana does not require employers to accommodate its use.

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FDNY Firefighter Seeks Reinstatement

An FDNY firefighter who resigned in 2013 after failing a random drug test is suing to get his job back, and he is citing the city’s reinstatement of a fire commissioner’s son as precedence. Glen Merkitch filed suit yesterday in Brooklyn requesting that the Kings County Supreme Court order his reinstatement. The complaint references the reinstatement of Joseph Cassano to the EMS division earlier this year

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Post Accident Drug Testing in the Headlines

Today’s burning question: After an apparatus accident last week and I was sent for routine drug/alcohol testing. The local newspaper wrote an article about the accident naming me as the driver and indicating that I was sent for drug testing. The way it was written implied I was sent because I did something wrong.

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Ohio Firefighter Ordered Reinstated

An Ohio firefighter terminated following a positive cocaine test has been ordered reinstated by 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals. The decision issued on March 12, 2012 involved firefighter Anthony DeCarlo, of the Parma Fire Department, who was terminated on ...

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