On the afternoon of January 4, 1987, the crew of a Conrail locomotive traveling near Baltimore, Maryland failed to respond to stop signals and hit an Amtrak train traveling from Washington, DC, to Boston, Massachusetts. Fourteen passengers on the Amtrak train were killed. Post-accident testing revealed that both the Conrail locomotive engineer and brakeman had been using marijuana.
This tragedy was part of the impetus for United States Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations mandating drug and alcohol testing for various categories of transportation employees.
At the same time, for the vast majority of workers holding safety sensitive positions throughout the United States, these mandatory transportation industry testing requirements are inapplicable. Whether employers of safety sensitive workers, outside of transportation industries, even have the right to test workers for marijuana use or prohibit marijuana use altogether is a function of state, and occasionally local, laws.
While Texas has no laws limiting employers’ rights to conduct marijuana testing or prohibit employees from using marijuana altogether, other states, such as New York and New Jersey, have recently enacted laws substantially tying the hands of employers—even in the case of recreational use—with respect to marijuana use prohibitions and testing for positions not subject to DOT testing requirements.
For Texas businesses operating in multiple states, the adoption of state laws limiting employer...
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