RIGHTS POLICY WOULD PROTECT ADDICTS, ALCOHOLICS

The Manitoba Human Rights Commission is considering new policies that
would prevent alcoholics and drug addicts from being singled out for
drug and alcohol testing in the workplace, school, or in sporting events.

Commission chairwoman Janet Baldwin said drug dependency is recognized
as a disability and people with disabilities are protected in law from
unreasonable discrimination.

Baldwin said she was concerned that companies and groups that use drug
and alcohol screening could single out people with drug-related
disabilities, making them liable to punishment and even dismissal.

"Increasingly employers, schools, sports groups, all kinds of groups,
are thinking about or implementing drug and alcohol testing," she said.

"The policies vary from pre-employment screening, to random tests to
conducting tests only on those suspected of using alcohol or drugs,"
she said.

Baldwin said she didn't know how common the practice was in Manitoba,
just that it seemed to be a growing trend in the country. Some
Manitoba school divisions have considered implementing random drug and
alcohol testing, including one that studied the idea of using the
breathalyzer on students to combat abuse.

However, no school has implemented a screening policy so
far.

"We're not saying you can't have policies that prohibit drugs and
alcohol in the workplace," Baldwin said.

She said such testing can be totally reasonable, as in the case of a
bus driver who is responsible for student safety and whose behavior in
the workplace can't be monitored by a supervisor.

Baldwin said if a positive test leads to the dismissal of someone with
a disability, the human rights commission wants to ensure that the
employer took reasonable steps to accommodate the employee.

Existing labour law provides some protection now, but Baldwin said
tougher protection under human rights legislation may be needed. The
commission expects to have a new draft policy on the subject in about
two months, she said.

The agency is also looking at new policies in the areas of racial
profiling and the rights of nursing mothers to breastfeed their babies
in public places.

Women have the right to receive reasonable accommodations to breast
feed in public, but the commission wants to define compliance to avoid
disputes.

In a recent case in Winnipeg, a retailer allowed a nursing mother to
feed her baby in the store, but the woman felt the accommodations were
inadequate because she lacked privacy.

On the question of racial profiling, Baldwin said the commission is
considering new policies that would define when it is proper to refuse
service to a minority.

For example, it may be acceptable to refuse to sell hairspray to an
aboriginal who intends to use it as an intoxicant, but that doesn't
mean all aboriginals can be denied service, she explained.