Rebuttable Presumption Legislation Passed

Rebuttable Presumption Legislation Passed

Posted: December, 2000; Modified: December, 2002

NOTE: The Ohio Supreme Court found this bill unconstitutional.

The legislature passed Am. Sub. H.B. 122, which permits employers to require workers injured on the job to submit to drug/alcohol testing.

This bill amends R.C. 4123.54 and provides a “rebuttable presumption” that where an employee tests positive for a controlled substance (alcohol or drugs which were not prescribed by a doctor), the controlled substance caused the injury.

In such a situation, the injured worker would not receive workers’ compensation because R.C. 4123.54 bars compensation for an injury proximately caused by use of a controlled substance.

The statute sets forth time limits for performing the tests and also sets out levels for different controlled substances which the tests must show. This provision only applies if the statutory requirements are met.

The statute also provides that failure to take a required test creates a rebuttable presumption that use of a controlled substance caused the injury.

Information courtesy of the Ohio Workers’ Compensation Bulletin. Subscribe to the Ohio Workers’ Compensation Bulletin to keep informed about the Ohio workers’ compensation system.