Crime & Safety
Worker Fired After Failing Drug Test Sues Ross Township
The former public works truck driver said his civil rights were violated, after he tested positive for cocaine.
Former Ross Township Public Works employee Michael Bodnar, who was fired after testing positive for cocaine, is suing the township, claiming his civil rights were violated, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.
Bodnar told the paper that the township in September of last year required him to retake a pre-employment drug test that he first took in February 2012 because of a paperwork mix-up.
Federal law only allows the township to conduct pre-employment and random drug tests. Bodnar's lawsuit contends the second test violated his right to be free of reasonable searches and seizures, the Trib reported.
Bodnar also blames politics for his firing. He said his father-in-law is influential in Ross politics and that political rivals engineered his dismissal even though the township usually gives other employees a second chance, the Trib reported.
Township solicitor Bonnie Brimmeier would not comment on the specifics of the case, other to than to say "we believe, he was legitimately let go."
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