REASONABLE
CAUSE:
A necessary prerequisite
for random alcohol
testing policies
By Mark Tector, Steve Carpenter,
Melissa Everett Withers and Ruth Trask
T
he Supreme Court of Canada ("the Court")
recently released CEP Local 30 v. Irving Pulp &
Paper Ltd., 2013 SCC 34 saying that an arbitration board's decision to strike down a random alcohol testing component of an employer's drug and alcohol
policy was reasonable.
Background:
The employer operates a pulp mill. Like other operators
of dangerous facilities it implemented a drug and alcohol
policy that included random alcohol testing for employees
in designated safety sensitive positions. The employer relied
in part on eight documented incidents of alcohol use at the
workplace over a 15-year period to justify its policy.
At arbitration, and before each subsequent court, the
issue was whether an employer must establish "reasonable
cause" before implementing a random alcohol testing policy.
2 FALL 2013 Doing Business in Atlantic Canada
