FIRED STATE WORKER SUES OVER RANDOM DRUG TESTS

He Claims The Policy Is Unconstitutional

TALLAHASSEE (AP) -- A 17-year state government employee is suing the
Department of Juvenile Justice, alleging its 1 1/2-year-old policy of
randomly testing any employee for drugs without a warrant violates the U.S
Constitution.

Roderick Wenzel, who worked as a manager at the department's Tallahassee
headquarters for four years after 13 years in other state government jobs,
sued the agency Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee seeking
unspecified monetary damages.

Wenzel was fired as manager of long-range performance planning in
September, a little more than a year after the department became the only
state agency to begin random drug testing. The policy was announced to
employees in August 2001, but testing didn't begin until April 2002,
spokeswoman Catherine Arnold said.

Attorneys for Wenzel and the American Civil Liberties Union, which is
pushing the case, say the requirement for random testing without suspicion
of drug use violates the Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable
search and seizure when the employer requiring the testing is a government
agency.

Courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have held that government
employees in safety-sensitive positions, such as railroad workers or police
who carry guns, can be randomly tested for drugs.

But for others, probable cause to believe drug use has occurred is needed,
Wenzel's attorneys contend.

When asked to take a drug test in June, Wenzel "said, 'Hey, I'm an
exemplary employee; I've never been absent; in fact, I've won an award,' "
said Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU of Florida.

Juvenile Justice Secretary Bill Bankhead said in a statement released by
his office that as a criminal justice agency, the drug testing policy made
sense.

"Our public employees must be drug-free and set the right example for young
people," Bankhead said. "Mr. Wenzel had served the state for 17 years and
the department for four years. He was fully informed, as were all
employees, when this policy was implemented."

Wenzel's attorneys advised him not to speak publicly about the case.

When the department initiated the policy, the union for rank-and-file DJJ
employees signed off on it.