The Ohio Supreme Court recently held that it is not an invasion of privacy for an employer to directly observe employees provide urine samples for drug tests. The ruling was part of Lunsford v. Sterilite of Ohio, L.L.C., through which employees claimed the company and U.S. Healthworks were invading employee privacy by enforcing witnessed urine samples. According to Sterilite’s drug testing policy, which did not disclose the use of direct observation testing, employees who refused to or could not produce a sample would be terminated. The Ohio Supreme Court determined that the at-will employees failed to establish a right to privacy when they consented, without objection, to be drug tested.
