Drug Use Not Grounds for Disability Denial
An employee may be entitled to temporary total disability compensation even though she tested positive for cocaine use while on an FMLA absence, an Ohio appeals court rules.
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August 7, 2008
Drug Use Not Grounds for Disability Denial
An employee may be entitled to temporary total disability compensation even
though she tested positive for cocaine use while on a Family and Medical Leave
Act absence,
an Ohio appeals court ruled Thursday, July 31.
The decision by the 10th District Court of Appeals in State of Ohio ex
relatione Alice M. Bogan v. Industrial Commission of Ohio and Tomasco Mulciber
Inc. overturned a state Industrial Commission finding.
The commission had ruled that Bogan “voluntarily abandoned her employment” by
violating an employee-handbook prohibition against the use of illegal drugs in
the workplace or reporting to work under their influence. Therefore, the
commission said, Bogan was not entitled to disability compensation.
But on appeal, a magistrate appointed by the appeals court found no evidence
that Bogan used drugs on her employer’s property or was working when she tested
positive. The magistrate ruled that the Industrial Commission abused its
discretion by denying the temporary total disability compensation.
Bogan’s employer objected to that finding, but the appeals court agreed with
the magistrate and ordered the commission to reconsider Bogan’s entitlement to
the payments.
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