Ninth Circuit Holds Pre-employment Drug-Test Requirement for Part-time Library Employee Invalid

In Lanier v. City of Woodburn, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals was faced with the issue of whether the City of Woodburn could require an applicant for a part-time library page to pass a pre-employment drug test as a condition of an offer of employment. While the Court did not hold the City's policy that required applicants to submit to such a drug test to be unconstitutional per se, the Ninth Circuit did hold that the policy was unconstitutional as applied to the applicant because the City failed to show a special need to screen the applicant for drugs. To read the Court's decision click here.