Canceled policy threatened members who ate poppy seed bagels or used hemp oil products.

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

The union has knocked out a Police Dept. rule that said civilian workers could be fired if they tested positive for prohibited substances found in legal products.

Under the policy, even a worker who ate a bagel with poppy seeds — which come from the same plant as heroin and morphine — could have been brought up on charges after a drug test.

The procedure also allowed the department to fire employees who tested positive for marijuana because they ate or used commercially-available foods, cosmetics or health-care products that contain hemp or hemp oil.

Fortunately, no DC 37 member fell victim to the draconian policy. But the union charged that the NYPD had no right to add the new rule to its “zero tolerance” drug policy in 1999 without negotiations.

On June 14, the Office of Collective Bargaining ruled in favor of DC 37’s improper practice petition. OCB’s impartial Board of Collective Bargaining agreed with the union that the new policy amounted to a change in disciplinary procedures and therefore had to be negotiated with the union.

DC 37 Assistant General Counsel Leonard Polletta, who handled the improper practice, said the case shed light on the problems surrounding drug testing.

“The tests that NYPD is using are imprecise. They give a positive result when employees use lawful substances,” Mr. Polletta said. The rule, he said, meant employees could no longer defend themselves by providing an explanation for a positive test result. The policy, in effect, took away the right of civilian employees to argue that a positive test was the result of lawful behavior and not illegal drug use.

Under the “reasonable suspicion” standard at the police department, civilian employees aren’t supposed to be tested unless they show some objective sign of impairment, such as being glassy-eyed or slurring their speech, during work. On the other hand, police officers may be tested randomly.

“We were very concerned about this change in policy when members brought it to our attention,” said Local 1549 Grievance Rep Brett Koch.

“The new policy instituted a stricter disciplinary procedure without any discussion with the union and quite naturally caused a lot of anguish among our members, who know a positive test result virtually means firing. This OCB decision is a great relief,” he stated