WELDER'S DRUG TEST GOES TO TRIBUNAL

Firing Called Human Rights Violation

A Canadian Human Rights Commission tribunal will hear the case of a
Winnipeg welder who says he was fired from a trucking company because he
tested positive for marijuana use.

Colin Hunter filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission
two years ago, accusing the Winnipeg-based trucking company, Kleysen
Transport Ltd., of illegally drug testing him -- and then using his
positive test results to fire him and avoid paying him parental leave.

The federal human rights watchdog will hear Hunter's case tomorrow, in the
wake of its controversial new policy released last week that bans workplace
drug testing in federally regulated industries, such as trucking companies.

The policy states that drug testing is a human rights violation in almost
all circumstances. It also says positive drug tests don't prove a person is
impaired because tests can show traces of drugs weeks after they were used,
long after an employee in question has sobered up.

Alcohol testing should be allowed only if an employer believes safety is at
risk, the policy says.

But an employee who uses drugs or alcohol can't be fired under the new
policy, because the commission deems drug use a disability. Firing an
employee because he is disabled is a violation of human rights, according
to the commission. Rather, the employer must take steps to rehabilitate the
employee, during which the employee can be removed temporarily from the job
in question, but once rehabilitated must be reinstated. The new policy will
apply in Hunter's case -- a hearing he said is long overdue. "I've been
researching drug testing policies for four years now. It's about time."

Hunter was hired at Kleysen Transport in June 1998, and fired six months
later after a tumultuous relationship with his boss over a drug test he
unwillingly took a month after he was hired, he said.

"I was asked to pee in a bottle or else say goodbye to my job." said
Hunter, who worked as a welder and mechanic for the company. "Three days
later, when the results came back, I was fired."

He then contacted the human rights commission and after conciliation talks
was rehired for a 10-week probationary period. He said Kleysen Transport
promised to reinstate him provided he pass drug tests, which he
subsequently did.

Two months after being reinstated, he was granted paid parental leave,
after his wife suffered a hemorrhage and underwent two surgeries, weeks
after giving birth. While on leave, Hunter received a letter of termination
from Kleysen Transport. Later, a second letter explained he didn't meet the
requirements of a company performance review given to him before he went on
leave -- and that the company "wasn't able to communicate your performance
review to you due to your personal family situation."

The letter says Kleysen Transport doesn't owe Hunter benefits because he
didn't work for six consecutive months. Pat Prouse, director of human
resources with Kleysen Transport Ltd., wouldn't comment about Hunter and
said his case was "an internal policy Kleysen would prefer to keep private."

Since July 1997, Canadian trucking companies that cross the Canada-U.S.
border have been required to perform drug and alcohol tests on their
drivers. The regulations have applied to U.S. trucking companies since
1990. Canadian drivers who test positive are banned from driving U.S. roads.

Manitoba Trucking Association general manager Bob Dolyniuk said the
commission's drug testing policies "muddy" an already grey area and leave
the industry vulnerable to human rights complaints. But commission
spokeswoman Catherine Barratt said its policies can't be enforced unless a
complaint is filed. She said Canadian Human Rights Commission tribunals are
quasi-judicial in nature. Tribunal decisions are legally binding.

Hunter's tribunal hearing begins tomorrow at the Federal Court of Canada
Building.