Woman need not have urine test to begin county work, judge rules

A federal judge says a woman who moved to Kai­lua-Kona from Oregon to accept a job with the Hawaii County prosecutor does not have to provide a sample of her urine before she can start work.

U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson issued a temporary restraining order Friday, preventing the county from requiring Rebekah Taylor-Failor to submit to urinalysis before she can begin work as a legal clerk. Watson said the county has failed to show a need to conduct a suspicionless search of an applicant for a position that the county acknowledges is not related to safety.

Taylor-Failor filed a lawsuit against the county last week, claiming that the county’s pre-employment medical requirements violate her constitutional rights against illegal search and seizure. She filed her lawsuit as a class action on behalf of all previous and future Hawaii County job applicants.

Watson’s order applies only to Taylor-Failor.

Taylor-Failor said that the county gave her a conditional job offer to start work this week. But before she was hired, she had to submit to a physical examination and answer an extensive medical history questionnaire.

Taylor-Failor said she filled out the questionnaire and had her own doctor in Oregon examine her according to the county’s requirements. However, she did not submit to urinalysis.

When she arrived in Hawaii, she said, the county told her she needs to submit a urine sample before she can start work and had scheduled her for an appointment March 10.

State law allows for pre-employment controlled-substance testing of employees.

In Hawaii County’s response to Taylor-Failor’s request for a TRO and preliminary injunction, a doctor for the county said the urinalysis does not test for alcohol, prescription or illegal drugs. He said the county’s urinalysis tests for substances that are "medically reasonable and necessary" in order to formulate an opinion as to an individual’s overall physical health.

The City and County of Hono­lulu drug-tests only candidates for certain job specialties.

Kauai County requires all incoming employees to submit to a physical examination and drug test but does not require them to answer questions about their medical histories.

The state drug-tests firefighters, prison guards and sheriff deputies but does not require any incoming employee to disclose medical information.