Dr. Scott Macdonald

The applicants sought an interlocutory injunction to restrain the Toronto Transit Commission from implementing random drug and alcohol testing for safety-sensitive employees pending the outcome of a policy grievance arbitration.

The court applied the RJR-MacDonald test and found that while there was a serious issue to be tried, the applicants failed to demonstrate irreparable harm, as any privacy breaches or wrongful dismissals could be compensated with damages.

Furthermore, the balance of convenience favoured the respondent due to the significant public interest in transit safety and evidence of a workplace drug and alcohol problem.

The motion for an injunction was dismissed.

The complainant, Martin Entrop, and the Ontario Human Rights Commission challenged Imperial Oil's Alcohol and Drug Policy, alleging it discriminated on the basis of handicap.

The Board of Inquiry found that drug abuse and dependence constitute a handicap under the Human Rights Code.

The Board held that the policy's requirements for mandatory disclosure of past substance abuse, reassignment, and onerous reinstatement conditions were overly broad and unlawful.

Furthermore, the Board ruled that pre-employment and random drug testing, as well as random alcohol testing, were unlawful because the employer failed to prove that positive tests correlate with actual impairment on the job, thus failing to establish a bona fide occupational requirement under section 17 of the Code.