Can I refuse to sign consent and refuse to attend counseling as recommended by my employer?
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Can I refuse to sign consent and refuse to attend counseling as recommended by my employer?
A co-worker texted my director acting as me stating I had a drug problem. I was random drug screened and now being forced to sign consent for future testing and being required to attend drug counseling provided by my employer. The result of not doing this is termination. I made a police report against the person who made the texts. The police said they will be doing an investigation. My employer has done nothing in regards to the texts. Their primary focus is me being a drug addict.
Asked on March 23, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, North Carolina
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
The fact is that unless this mandate for drug testing and/or drug counseling violates the terms of a union agreement or employment contract it is legal. If you do not comply, then as an "at will" worker, your company can terminate your employment. This is true regardless of whether or not your co-worker did something wrong in all of this; one thing has nothing to do with the other. In most employment arrangements, a business can set the conditions of the workplace much as it sees fit, absent some form of legally actionable discrimination. Accordingly, it can fire an employee for any reason or no reason at all, with or without notice.
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