Washington

Washington State Limits Pre-Employment Marijuana Testing

Published

1 year ago

May 15, 2023

Washington State Limits Pre-Employment Marijuana Testing

SB 5132 includes provisions to protect employees from adverse actions solely based on marijuana … [+] usage if it occurs outside of work hours and does not impair job performance.

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Employers in Washington State face new challenges and considerations regarding drug testing practices with the passage of Senate Bill 5132 (SB 5132). The legislation provides broad protections for adult users of marijuana and imposes limitations on employment drug testing, particularly related to cannabis. Employers must prepare to comply by January 1, 2024, the bill’s effective date.

Washington legalized the recreational use of marijuana in 2012. Ten years later, as part of the 2022-2023 legislative session, lawmakers in Washington worked to reconcile a “disconnect between prospective employees’ legal activities and employers’ hiring practices,” considering cannabis use analogous to alcohol consumption. SB 5132 identifies that drug tests may report the presence of “nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites from past cannabis use, including up to 30 days in the past, that have no correlation to an applicant’s future job performance.” The bill notes, “Applicants are much less likely to test positive or be disqualified for the presence of alcohol on a pre-employment screening test compared with cannabis, despite both being legally allowed controlled substances.”

Past Cannabis Use Cannot Impact Job Opportunities

SB 5132 includes provisions to protect employees from adverse actions solely based on marijuana usage if it occurs outside of work hours and does not impair job performance. Employers should be cautious not to discriminate against employees or applicants based solely on off-duty cannabis use.

While SB 5132 does not explicitly prohibit pre-employment marijuana testing, employers may not require a drug test indicating “nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites” in hair, blood, urine, or bodily fluid. However, employers may require drug tests that assess a range of controlled substances, including cannabis, if the results provided to the employer do not report findings associated with past cannabis use.

Testing for Psychoactive Cannabis Metabolites

While SB 5132 limits pre-employment marijuana testing, employers may still be interested in identifying recent cannabis use or psychoactive cannabis metabolites for specific positions or safety concerns. Some alternative testing options may provide insights while respecting the new legislation.

Oral fluid testing, also known as saliva testing, is gaining popularity due to its ability to detect recent drug use. This method can identify the presence of psychoactive cannabis metabolites shortly after cannabis consumption, usually within a few hours to a few days. It provides a window of detection that aligns with identifying impairment rather than historical use.

Employers may also conduct drug testing after accidents or incidents where drug use may be a factor. Additionally, if there is reasonable suspicion of an employee being impaired on the job, drug testing can be administered to ensure workplace safety. Such tests can detect psychoactive cannabis metabolites if used within a reasonable timeframe after cannabis use.

Exceptions

SB 5132 does not apply to jobs that involve federal security clearances or background investigations, in law enforcement, the fire department, first responders, corrections officers, the airline or aerospace industries, or in safety-sensitive positions where impairment while working presents a “substantial risk of death,” if the employer identifies the position as “safety-sensitive” before the candidate applies for employment.

Practical Considerations for Employers

In light of SB 5132 and the limitations it imposes on drug testing, employers may consider the following practical considerations to ensure compliance and maintain a safe and productive workplace:

Policy Review and Revision: Employers must review and revise their drug testing policies to align with the provisions of SB 5132. Remove any pre-employment marijuana testing requirements that test or report nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites and ensure that policies clearly outline the permissible circumstances for drug testing, such as post-accident or suspicion-based situations.
Safety-Sensitive Positions: Identify safety-sensitive positions within your organization that may require drug testing, including testing for psychoactive cannabis metabolites. Clearly define these positions and their related job duties to ensure appropriate testing and compliance with safety regulations. Make required disclosures in safety-sensitive job postings.
Education and Communication: Proactively educate employees about the changes brought about by SB 5132. Communicate the revised drug testing policies, the reasons behind the changes, and the continued commitment to maintaining a safe work environment. Provide resources for employees to seek clarification or address any concerns.

By balancing safety concerns and individual rights, employers can comply with SB 5132, foster a positive work environment, and ensure legal compliance. Staying informed, seeking legal guidance if needed, assessing options with drug testing vendors, and maintaining open communication channels with employees will contribute to a smooth transition and help employers navigate the evolving landscape of employment drug testing in Washington State.

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Washington

Washington Commanders ‘Have An Elite Coaching Staff’, ‘Everyone Is Happy to be Here’

Published

7 hours ago

June 11, 2024

Press Room

Washington Commanders ‘Have An Elite Coaching Staff’, ‘Everyone Is Happy to be Here’

ASHBURN, Va. — Washington Commanders offensive tackle Andrew Wylie arrived to the team just after assistant head coach/offensvie coordinator Eric Bieniemy did last season, and both came from a Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs team.

That familiarity and success was exiciting and a lot of people tied the potential success of the Commanders offense to the relationship and Wylie’s ability to help his teammates get up to speed on Bieniemy’s coaching style quicker.

READ MORE: Special Teams Coordinator Larry Izzo Talks New Kickoff Rules

It didn’t quite work out that way, but when Washington revamped the coaching staff, they kept the veteran tackle. A sign that not only is he capable of holding down the right side of the offensive line, but a player who can help usher in another new coach experience, but this time with a little more success.

“We have an elite coaching staff. That’s what it’s been,” Wylie said when asked how the new experience has been this offseason and OTA period. “It’s been great energy in the building. Points of emphasis, what (head coach Dan Quinn) wants are reiterated everyday and there’s a lot of energy on this staff. So great energy in the building and everyone’s happy to be here.”

Washington Commanders offensive tackle Andrew Wylie.

Nov 23, 2023; Arlington, Texas, USA; Washington Commanders guard Andrew Wylie (71) and Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons (11) in action during the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Commanders at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Happy workers are more effective workers and the argument can be made that happy players construct more successful rosters. That doesn’t mean they need to be coddled and told they’re great all the time, but the way a player is critiqued is just as important as the issue trying to be fixed.

The fact that this staff is teaching – and they’re doing a lot of it – with positive energy has all observers anticipating a more effective result this time around.

“I’ve been a part of big overhauls before,” Wylie said. “It’s similar on the opposite side of the spectrum after you win the big one, there’s always a lot of overturn in the locker room on those teams as well. Been a part of it before and I will say we got some great talented, high-energy, big leadership guys in the locker room and they’re making a difference already.”

READ MORE: Commanders RB Austin Ekeler Giving Plenty of Credit to Coach Anthony Lynn

Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2024 season.

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Modi’s election setback surprises Indian Americans in the DMV

Published

14 hours ago

June 11, 2024

Press Room

Modi’s election setback surprises Indian Americans in the DMV

The first thing Syed Ashraf did when he awoke at 5:45 a.m. last Tuesday in his Ashburn, Va. home was look up the Indian election results.

His tension eased and he felt a glimmer of hope as he scrolled the results that trickled out from the subcontinent, he said. After a 47-day election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had secured the most parliamentary seats, but it fell short of securing the majority needed to form a government — an unexpected rebellion against the Hindu nationalist party that has dominated the country’s politics for a decade and stoked tensions among religious groups.

“People have really spoken up, and it’s a good thing,” Ashraf, a Muslim Indian who was raised in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and moved to Virginia in 2000, told The Washington Post. “I was worried about the future of my community there, and other communities as well. I was losing my confidence in the democracy of India.”

Modi was sworn in for a rare third term Sunday, but the new parliamentary makeup could put more checks on his power. “And that’s what I feel good about,” Ashraf, 51, said.

Indian Americans across the D.C., Maryland and Virginia region tuned in to the Indian elections last week, checking WhatsApp group chats and waiting for the latest news reports. The stakes are high: widening wealth inequality; India’s position in the global economy; and threatened multiculturalism and secularism, as the BJP has attempted to push the country’s minorities to the margins.

As Modi and the BJP’s setback became clear, reaction from Indian Americans in the DMV ran the gamut: shock, delight, hope, worry, resignation. For some, the shift in Indian politics suggests a positive step to support the country’s diversity. Others said it could put India’s economic growth at risk — or won’t change much at all.

Raj Prasannappa, 60, is among those concerned the results will slow India’s economic growth.

A BJP supporter, Prasannappa followed the election on NDTV, an Indian news outlet, anticipating that the party would secure more seats than it did.

He noted how Indian stocks plunged as election results rolled out. (The country’s stocks have since recovered.)

“India was going on the right path economically,” Prasannappa said from outside a Sterling, Va., Hindu temple as the sun dipped and a Hanuman pooja, or prayer, rang out. Now, he said, a parliament without a clear majority “leaves India in uncertainty.” (Under the BJP, India’s share of the global GDP has grown, though high unemployment and low rural wages persist.)

Kumar Tirumala, another member of Prasannappa’s temple, carried bananas as offering into the pooja. He was up late Monday night for results, which he expected to be another BJP landslide. To him, Modi and the BJP represent a preservation of Hindu culture. Nearly 80 percent of the country’s population is Hindu.

By Tuesday evening, he said, he was satisfied with the results: Modi secured a third term, and that is enough. In the years to come, Tirumala said he hopes the BJP rebounds.

Many who hail from the country’s minorities, such as Ashraf, disagree. The party built a temple on the site of a razed mosque, revoked the predominantly Muslim Kashmir region’s autonomous special status and excluded Muslims from a fast track to citizenship. Emboldened by the party’s lead, lynch mobs have targeted the country’s Muslims, and local officials have used bulldozers to demolish the properties of Muslims accused of crimes. On the campaign trail, Modi referred to the country’s Muslims as “infiltrators.”

Tensions have touched Western soil, too. Indian officials orchestrated an assassination attempt against a Sikh separatist leader, a vocal critic of Modi, in the United States this year, The Post reported, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country was investigating allegations that the Indian government was behind the killing of a Sikh Canadian separatist leader.

“Modi didn’t do anything for us,” Balwinder Singh said from the quiet foyer of a Northwest Washington gurdwara, or Sikh place of worship. “How he’s treated Muslims, it’s not good. The Sikh community has not been happy either.”

For Singh, 54, the election results represent a pushback against Modi’s Hindu nationalist agenda. “It’s a good sign for India,” he said.

Laby George, who leads an Indian church in Silver Spring, said that breaking up the BJP’s political monopoly was crucial for the health of the nation’s democracy. He stayed up until about 3 a.m. tracking the election and went to sleep relieved.

“India is a democratic country. For any democracy to flourish there should be a good opposition party,” he said. “This will help the country go in the right direction. I’m not saying everything is going to be fixed, but there can be resistance.”

Last year, mobs fueled by Hindu nationalism attacked hundreds of Christian converts in dozens of villages in eastern India. Hopefully, now, aggressions against minorities will be less frequent, said Selvin Selvaraj, 49, of Gaithersburg.

He waited until 4:15 a.m., hoping the opposition would secure more seats, Selvaraj said.

Rupinder Singh, a Rockville resident, said the parliamentary shake-up is not enough. He said many Sikhs don’t have much faith in any political parties — that the parties have “been different sides to the same coin.”

This month is a stark reminder of that for many Sikhs. June marks 40 years since the Indian army raided Sikhism’s holy site, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, to kill a Sikh militant leader. Hundreds died during the attack. The bloody raid took place under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, of the Indian National Congress Party.

Now — regardless of who holds the prime minister title or who sits in parliament — India contends with issues that grow more urgent by the day, such as a worsening climate crisis, Rupinder Singh, 40, said. Last week, a heat wave killed 14 people in India, including 10 elections officials.

“When it’s 140 degrees and there’s no water, what’s going to happen?” he said. “It will be the haves versus the have nots, and that’s scary. No political party is seriously addressing this.”

Many Indian Americans across the DMV said they’ll continue watching their home country’s political situation closely — some hopeful, some dubious.

“It’s neither positive nor negative. I’m still skeptical of what’s going on, and what is coming next,” said Imran Kukdawala, 40. “The BJP did not get the type of majority they were hoping for. But they’re still in power.”

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Washington

Washington man allegedly kills teen because he mistook an airsoft gun for a real firearm

Published

21 hours ago

June 10, 2024

Press Room

Washington man allegedly kills teen because he mistook an airsoft gun for a real firearm

The King County, Washington, Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged a man with second-degree murder and assault, both felony counts, for allegedly shooting a teen he thought was holding a gun and who he believed was about to rob a sporting goods store.

Aaron Brown Myers, 51, told police he believed the 17-year-old victim had a gun and was going to rob a Big 5 Sporting Goods store in the Seattle suburb of Renton last Wednesday as the teen headed toward the retailer with two others, according to court documents filed by the prosecutor, Leesa Manion.

The boy was holding an airsoft gun, according to a police affidavit. An airsoft gun is a replica firearm that shoots low-power, nonmetallic pellets.

The two teens who were with the victim told police they were going to the sporting goods store to either return or exchange the airsoft gun because it was malfunctioning, the affidavit said.

Myers was charged on Monday with the two felony charges and is scheduled to be arraigned on June 24, according to the King County Prosecutor’s Office. Myers is currently being held on a $2 million bond, according to the office.

Renton, Washington police officers investigate the scene where Aaron Brown Myers allegedly shot and killed teen because he mistook his BB gun for a real firearm.

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“The investigation revealed that the victim and two other 17-year-olds were walking toward a store to return a handgun-style BB gun when the armed suspect got out of his vehicle and confronted the trio,” according to the filing obtained by ABC News. “There was an altercation that turned physical, and the suspect allegedly shot the victim multiple times.”

Myers told police he works as an armed security guard elsewhere, and he had just gotten off work and was waiting in his car in a parking lot as his son attended martial arts classes nearby, according to the police affidavit.

“Myers indicated that he conducted ‘overwatch’ at the location as he has seen numerous crimes occur in the parking lot in the past,” the affidavit read.

Reports do not show that Myers was authorized to guard the area.

Myers saw three teens approach the Big 5 Sporting Goods store with what he thought were handguns and believed they were going to rob the store, according to the affidavit. He further stated that he felt he did not have time to call 911 and that he “had a duty to act to stop the individuals from hurting someone innocent, and to protect his son,” per the court filing.

Myers, who was armed with a registered semiautomatic pistol, told police he approached the teens with his gun out and told them to put their hands in the air, but no one complied, the police affidavit said. He then fired multiple rounds at the victim because he thought the teen was reaching into the waistband of his pants for what Myers believed was a gun and that the teen “was going to kill him,” according to the filing.

The 17-year-old, whose name was redacted from court records because he’s a minor, was pronounced dead at the scene by first responders, the filing said. Myers was immediately detained and taken into custody.

“Mr. Myers and his family are devastated by this tragedy and the fact that it resulted in the loss of a young man’s life. On the evening in question Mr. Myers sincerely believed that he was witnessing the beginning of an armed robbery,” Myers’ attorney said in a statement to ABC News. “Unfortunately, during the confrontation Mr. Myers became in fear for his own life and fired his duty weapon to defend himself.”

The two surviving teens said they previously used the airsoft guns to shoot in the woods and wanted help from the store with their replica firearms, which were malfunctioning, according to the affidavit.

Investigators stated in their report that surveillance footage of the incident appeared to contradict some of Myers’ statements.

The surveillance footage also shows Myers quickly approaching the teens in the parking lot, the filing said. After he forces one teen to the ground and straddles him, he points his gun at another, per the affidavit.

The teen with the gun pointed at him had his hands up but lowered one of his hands toward his waist, at which point Myers is seen firing his weapon multiple times, according to the filing.

“Based off these facts I believe there is Probable Cause to charge Aaron B Myers … with the crime of Murder in the second degree,” according to the police officer involved, the court filing said. “Myers actions of discharging his firearm, without premeditation, caused the death of another person.”

In response to an ABC News’ request for comment, the deceased boy’s father said he was too distraught to speak about the incident.

Renton, Washington, police told ABC News that surveillance footage of the incident will not be publicly available until their investigation is complete.

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