South Pasadena : Drug Tests to Continue

City officials intend to go ahead with a newly adopted pre-employment drug testing program despite a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against the city of Glendale, which recently started testing all new applicants for city jobs as well as employees who are seeking promotions. The ACLU contends that the test violates job applicants’ right to privacy.

The policy adopted by South Pasadena early last month applies only to new applicants for city jobs and requires them to submit to a urinalysis designed to detect 10 designated controlled substances, including alcohol, City Manager John Bernardi said.

Bernardi said South Pasadena has not yet tested any applicants because the test is the final step in the hiring process. “We have positions open, but we’re not testing at this point because we haven’t made final selections on applicants yet.”

He added that if the ACLU wins its suit, South Pasadena will discontinue the testing program. Bernardi said he will meet soon with police officials and the doctor in charge of the program to set up a specific method of testing.