The test that got him fired? An arbitrator ruled it never should have happened
A random drug test cost a bus operator his job. An arbitrator has now handed it back, ruling the test itself was an unreasonable search that breached his privacy and could not be used to prove he was ever unfit to drive.
Arbitrator Laura Trachuk released her award on July 13, 2026, allowing a grievance the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 113 brought against the Toronto Transit Commission over the firing of a bus operator. Trachuk ordered the worker reinstated without loss of seniority and compensated for his losses. The parties agreed to handle the amount of compensation and any further damages separately.
The worker, hired in 2009 into a safety-sensitive role, was randomly selected for alcohol and drug testing on Aug. 17, 2017, under the TTC's Fit for Duty Policy. The breathalyzer came back negative right away. The oral fluid drug test did not, and he kept working his shifts. Days later, the TTC learned the sample was non-compliant for cannabis.
He was suspended with pay, then terminated after a meeting at the end of August. According to the termination memo, the worker said he used marijuana to help him sleep for an undiagnosed condition he had not reported to the employer. The memo stated he had attended work unfit for duty and breached the policy.
In a companion policy ruling issued the same day, Trachuk found the random testing program breached section 8...
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