Section 29(1)(b)
DISCHARGE, Drug testing, Evidence
CITE AS: Sullivan v MESC, No. 88-15431-AE, Monroe Circuit Court (November 20, 1989).
Appeal pending: No
Claimant: Susan Sullivan
Employer: Manpower Inc. of Southeastern Michigan
Docket No: B84 10878 98346, et al
CIRCUIT COURT HOLDING: One unconfirmed drug test is not enough to satisfy the burden of proving that drugs were used by the claimant and does not conclusively establish acts of misconduct connected with her work.
FACTS: Claimant was an employee of Manpower, Inc. and was assigned to work at Detroit Edison's Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Plant as a procedure writer. In compliance with Edison's requirements, all Manpower employees were required to submit to a drug screen of a urine sample. Manpower reserved the right to make employment decisions based on an analysis of the sample. The claimant submitted a specimen which was subject to an immunoassay procedure which revealed a "presumptively positive" result for the presence of marijuana. Although more reliable, no confirmatory test by gas chromatography, radioimmuno-assay, or high pressure liquid chromatography was performed. The claimant was discharged as a result of the test.
DECISION: The claimant is not disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits.
RATIONALE: The Court adopted the opinion of the dissenting members of the Board of Review which noted that no evidence of use, possession or impairment from illegal drugs was presented and which emphasized that the employer's physician witness acknowledged that a "presumptively positive" result from the immunoassay procedure should be confirmed by other testing methods.
12/91
3, 13, 4; d11, 14:E