COURT SAYS FIRED BUS MECHANIC SHOULD BE REINSTATED

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Associated Press) -- A Cincinnati bus company must rehire a
mechanic who was fired for illegal drug use because Ohio law doesn't
prevent transportation workers suspended for drugs from being reinstated,
the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

The court, in a 6-1 vote, upheld an arbitration panel's decision that Marc
Sundstrom, of Cincinnati, should get back his job with the Southwest Ohio
Regional Transit Authority.

Sundstrom was fired after testing positive for marijuana during a random
drug test in 1997. He filed a grievance with his union, Amalgamated Transit
Union, leading to arbitration and court proceedings.

The Supreme Court's ruling reversed an appeals court decision that rehiring
Sundstrom went against accepted practice of ensuring people's safety by not
allowing illegal drug use among transportation employees.

Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton wrote in the majority opinion that
although the state prohibits drug or alcohol use by transportation
employees, the law does not prevent reinstatement.

Moreover, she wrote, Ohio has adopted federal regulations on employee drug
testing that support rehabilitation.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided a similar case. The court said
reinstatement of a transportation employee fired for drug use did not go
against any explicit, well-defined, dominant public policy.

``Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this way in a similar case we were
fairly confident about this ruling,'' said James B. Robinson, a union attorney.

Charles M. Roesch, an attorney for the bus company, did not return a
message seeking comment Wednesday.

Arbitrators had ruled that Sundstrom's firing violated part of the
collective bargaining agreement that prohibited discipline without
sufficient cause. They reinstated him but required that he undergo random
drug tests and complete a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.

The bus company appealed the arbitrators' ruling to the Hamilton County
Common Pleas Court and then to the 1st Ohio District Court of Appeals.

Justice Deborah Cook dissented in Wednesday's decision. She said she agreed
with the appeals court because the arbitrators' decision violated the
collective bargaining agreement.