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Break-in might be linked to drug tests
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
© St. Petersburg Times, BROOKSVILLE -- Before they took their jobs, five Hernando County public works employees took the drug test the county requires as a drug-free workplace. With no reason to question them, the county human resources department accepted the urine samples that the prospects provided. When the department received multiple complaints that the five employees might be using drugs, however, the rules changed. On Tuesday, the workers under suspicion had to give samples under direct supervision, so they couldn't provide substitutes. They weren't too happy about that, human resources director Barbara Dupre said. The samples went to Florida Drug and Paramedical, a lab on Cortez Boulevard. And overnight Tuesday, they disappeared during a break-in. "We're investigating it," Brooksville police Lt. Rick Shew said. "There was a computer taken and some urine samples. Until we get further information, I don't have too much more to say." The public works employees are possible suspects, Shew said, but nothing more. No solid evidence was immediately available to solve the case. A written report was not available. A representative from Florida Drug and Paramedical said the company had no comment. Dupre confirmed the stolen samples had belonged to the employees, and said the missing computer was one into which data about the employees was entered. If one of the employees burglarized the lab, that move might have been an overreaction. The county usually doesn't fire for positive results on a drug test unless it can be proved that an employee used drugs on the clock, or if the employee had been warned before. "The personnel manual allows for immediate termination of any positive test," Dupre said. "However, we have the discretion to look at them on a case-by-case basis." Breaking the law to cover up something only further jeopardizes a county employee's position. The manual also allows for the immediate firing of any worker convicted of a felony or first-degree misdemeanor. The county usually does not have so many drug tests for suspicion at the same time, Dupre said, because it screens all employees and conducts regular random testing of all workers with a commercial driver's license. Some people have tampered with the test samples in the past, though, she said.
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From today's Hernando Times |
