500 words
The United States Department of Transportation regulates that certain employees engaged in oil and gas pipeline operations are required to submit to random drug testing. The employee does not have to be suspected of drug use before being tested. Review the documents found at https://www.transportation.gov/odapc.
If the employees challenge this rule in court, will the rule be upheld? What is a police state? If the United States were a police state, privacy and other rights that we often take for granted could be commonplace and easily justified in the interest of security. If that were the situation, would a case like this one have even come before a court? What is a safety sensitive position? Why are these positions highly regulated? What advantages are there to an employer to use basic principles of fairness in investigating and disciplining employees? Do you think that employees who feel that they are being treated fairly will likely be more productive and more loyal than employees who are arguably mistreated? Why or why not?
