Iowa Appellate Court Defines “Accident”

On September 6, the Iowa Appellate Court ruled that an employer failed to abide by the state drug testing law by requiring a worker to submit to drug testing for a “cumulative injury.” (Skipton v. S&J Tube, Inc., No. 2-573/11-1902).

The employer’s drug test policy, established in 2007, was developed with the help of an outside third party administrator. The policy called for drug and alcohol tests if an employee was “involved in a workplace accident involving an injury which require[ed] medical treatment.” The employee in this case had been treated for “carpal tunnel” for over a year. During one of her appointments for treatment she was informed a drug test would be required. The test was performed and was returned positive for cocaine.

She was told by the company human resource manager that she could have the specimen retested but that “it would not be worthwhile” because it would “probably come out positive too.”

The District Court (trial court) found and the Appellate Court agreed that the employer violated the state’s drug testing law, sec. 730.5, in several ways:

1. Hand delivered a notice of the positive result rather than sending it certified mail as required by law 
2. Failed to inform the employee of the actual cost of the split test analysis—she was given a range of $200-$300 
3. The employer did not have the authority under the statute to require the test in the first place 

It is critical to understand why the court found that the employer had no authority to require the drug/alcohol test in this case. The bottom line is that “cumulative injuries” like carpal tunnel are not accidents.