The public may never know for sure what Ryan Braun, or his drug test handlers, did or did not do last October. But the Brewer’s MVP asserted his innocence at a press conference on Friday in which he described the upside-down nature of mandatory drug testing and doping accusations. Braun said the process felt like the accused were “100% guilty until proven innocent” and that his integrity and livelihood was at stake during the ordeal.
But it isn’t just major league athletes that experience the inherent indignity of mandatory drug testing. The livelihood of many Americans can balance on submitting to the discomfort of a drug test. But if drug testing is necessary, it must be fair. And the process and protections must be clear for everyone.
Fairness and standards for drug testing of professional athletes are spelled out in contracts that are negotiated between the players’ union and the sporting league. Braun said at the press conference that everyone has agreed to the system and it was the system that exonerated him. To describe an arbitrator granting his appeal as getting off on a technicality does a disservice to the due process that all workers who submit to drug testing deserve. Technicalities are the rules of due process that ensure integrity in the system.
Unfortunately very few American workers have protections against capricious drug testing. There are few state laws that protect workers’ privacy, despite the increase in mandatory testing that is unrelated to the job duties. Taking a drug test shouldn’t be as common as filling out a job application. Yet millions of Americans are forced to submit to drug tests without evidence that they are using drugs.
In a striking contrast to the stories of affluent, unionized athletes, the big trend last year was for state legislatures to introduce laws to require people to submit to drug testing before receiving public assistance support like unemployment benefits, welfare, TANF or Medicare. A similar proposal was a part of Wisconsin’s unemployment bill last year, but the measure was stripped out of the final version. The poor shouldn’t have to give up their privacy rights in order to make ends meet. They have no workers’ union to fight for their rights, but the American Civil Liberties Union did file a lawsuit in Florida to fight the most egregious example of this discriminatory practice.
Ordinary Americans, whether they are union members or not, should be treated with dignity in the workplace. Drug testing is an invasion of privacy and should not be overused. But when drug tests are necessary, at least there should be standards to protect Americans from unfairness, abuse or sloppy testing.
Read more from the national American Civil Liberties Union about drug testing reform. Or read more on the national trend of attempts to require drug testing for public assistance.
