Petersen v. City of Mesa

83 P.3d 35, 207 Ariz. 35, 20 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1586, 418 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 75, 2004 Ariz. LEXIS 12
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 27, 2004
DocketCV-03-0100-PR
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 83 P.3d 35 (Petersen v. City of Mesa) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Petersen v. City of Mesa, 83 P.3d 35, 207 Ariz. 35, 20 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1586, 418 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 75, 2004 Ariz. LEXIS 12 (Ark. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

McGREGOR, Vice Chief Justice.

¶ 1 This case requires us to determine the constitutionality of a city’s random, suspicion-less drug testing of its firefighters. We exercise jurisdiction pursuant to Article VI, Section 5.3 of the Arizona Constitution, Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) section 12-120.24, and Rule 23 of the Arizona Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure.

I.

¶ 2 Craig Petersen works as a firefighter for the City of Mesa. In 2001, after Petersen was hired, the City implemented a substance abuse program (the Program) for the Mesa Fire Department. The Program requires testing of firefighters (1) if the-Department has reasonable suspicion to believe an individual firefighter has abused drugs or alcohol; (2) after a firefighter is involved in an accident on the job; (3) following a firefighter’s return to duty or as a follow-up to “a determination that a covered member is in need of assistance”; and (4) “on an unannounced and random basis spread reasonably throughout the calendar year.”

¶3 Under the Program’s random testing provision, a computer program selects the firefighters to be tested. The Department notifies firefighters of their selection for random testing immediately before, during, or after work; the firefighters are to be tested within thirty minutes of their notification, with allowance for travel time to the laboratory for collection. Once at the laboratory, firefighters are permitted to use private bathroom stalls when providing urine samples, which are then inspected by a monitor for the proper color and temperature.

¶ 4 The laboratory tests the sample for the presence of marijuana, cocaine, opiates, am *37 phetamines, and phencyclidine. 1 The laboratory initially tests the specimens by using an immunoassay test that meets the requirements of the Food and Drug Administration for commercial distribution. The laboratory then confirms all positive test results using the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry technique and reports positive results to a Medical Review Officer (MRO), who has a “detailed knowledge of possible alternate medical explanations.” The MRO reviews the results before giving the information to the Department’s administrative official. Only confirmed tests are reported to the Department as positive for a specific drug. Before verifying a positive result, however, the MRO must contact the firefighter on a confidential basis.

¶ 5 The Department does not release information in a firefighter’s drug testing record outside the Department without the firefighter’s consent. A firefighter whose test reveals a blood alcohol concentration in excess of that allowed under the Program or who tests positive for any of several specified drugs is removed from all covered positions and is evaluated by a substance abuse professional. The Department may discipline or terminate the employment of a firefighter who tests positive a second time or who refuses to submit to a required test.

¶ 6 According to section 8 of the Program, the primary purpose of the random testing component “is to deter prohibited alcohol and controlled substance use and to detect prohibited use for the purpose of removing identified users from the safety-sensitive work force.” This purpose advances the City’s goal of establishing “a work environment that is totally free of the harmful effects of drugs and the misuse of alcohol.”

¶ 7 Petersen filed a complaint in superior court seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, alleging that the random testing component of the Program violated his rights under both Article II, Section 8 of the Arizona Constitution and the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. 2 The trial court held that the Program violated the Arizona Constitution and permanently enjoined the Department from continuing random, suspicionless drug and alcohol testing of the City’s firefighters. The court of appeals reversed, holding that the Program’s random testing component is reasonable under both the Arizona and United States Constitutions. The court reasoned that the City’s “compelling need to discover specific but hidden conditions representing grave risks to the health and safety of the firefighters and the public” outweighed Petersen’s privacy interests. Petersen v. City of Mesa, 204 Ariz. 278, 286 ¶ 34, 63 P.3d 309, 317 (App.2003). Judge Hall dissented from the majority’s conclusion that the random testing component of the Program is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Id. at 290-91 ¶ 49, 63 P.3d at 321-22 (Hall, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part).

¶ 8 Under the analysis set forth below, we hold that the Program’s random testing component is unreasonable and therefore violates the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. 3

*38 II.

¶ 9 The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” U.S. Const. amend. IV. “The Amendment guarantees the privacy, dignity, and security of persons against certain arbitrary and invasive acts by officers of the Government or those acting at their direction.” Skinner v. Ry. Labor Executives’Ass’n, 489 U.S. 602, 613-14, 109 S.Ct. 1402, 103 L.Ed.2d 639 (1989). In this case, the parties agree that the City’s collection and testing of a firefighter’s urine and breath constitutes a “search” under the Fourth Amendment. See, e.g., id. at 617, 109 S.Ct. 1402 (“Because it is clear that the collection and testing of urine intrudes upon expectations of privacy that society has long recognized as reasonable ... these intrusions must be deemed searches under the Fourth Amendment.”).

¶ 10 As the language of the Fourth Amendment makes clear, “the ultimate measure of the constitutionality of a governmental search is ‘reasonableness.’ ” Vernonia Sch. Dist. 47J v. Acton, 515 U.S. 646, 652, 115 S.Ct. 2386, 132 L.Ed.2d 564 (1995). To be reasonable, a search generally must be based upon some level of individualized suspicion of •wrongdoing. Skinner, 489 U.S. at 624, 109 S.Ct. 1402. The purpose of requiring individualized suspicion “is to protect privacy interests by assuring citizens subject to a search or seizure that such intrusions are not the random or arbitrary acts of government agents.” Id. at 621-22, 109 S.Ct. 1402.

¶ 11 The Supreme Court, however, has recognized limited exceptions to this general rule “when ‘special needs, beyond the normal need for law enforcement, make the warrant and probable-cause requirement impracticable.’ ” Id. at 619, 109 S.Ct. 1402 (quoting Griffin v. Wisconsin, 483 U.S. 868, 873, 107 S.Ct. 3164, 97 L.Ed.2d 709 (1987)).

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Bluebook (online)
83 P.3d 35, 207 Ariz. 35, 20 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1586, 418 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 75, 2004 Ariz. LEXIS 12, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/petersen-v-city-of-mesa-ariz-2004.