An employee’s claim that his employer did not have a right to request a medical examination after he tested positive for drugs and subsequently admitted that he was taking numerous prescription medications that could create a safety risk was dismissed in a federal Indiana court. Specifically, the employee claimed that forcing him to submit to a medical examination constituted disability discrimination, filing a lawsuit alleging violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990. The plaintiff in Beal v. Muncie Sanitary District, a truck driver and heavy machinery operator, was involved in a minor accident and later tested positive for opiates, benzodiazepines and oxycodone. He was allowed to continue to work, but was removed from performing safety-sensitive positions. His doctor cleared him to return to work, even in his former position, but the District’s Medical Review Officer (MRO) disagreed. When he refused to submit to a medical examination by a third-party physician as a stipulation of returning to work, his position was terminated.
