On Thursday, in a stunning reversal, Gov. Rick Scott ordered most agencies to hold off implementing an executive order he signed in March requiring random drug testing of many current state employees, as well as pre-hire testing for applicants.
Scott said today it doesn’t make sense to move forward with a policy of drug testing state workers in light of a pending lawsuit challenging the rule.
Scott, who insisted that it’s not a retreat on the matter, ordered the Department of Corrections to implement the drug testing policy, but told other agencies to wait.
On March 22, when Scott signed the executive order, the ACLU contended Florida could not force people to surrender their constitutional rights in order to work for the state.
“Absent any evidence of illegal drug use, or assigned a safety-sensitive job, people have a right to be left alone”, ACLU of Florida Executive Director Howard Simon said in a statement in March.
Simon added that the policy Scott had recreated by executive order had already been declared unconstitutional.
