Neal v. Augusta-Richmond County Personnel Bd.

The Court reversed the trial court's affirmance of a county personnel board's termination of a firefighter, because the board erred in admitting a lab report without allowing the firefighter to confront witnesses against him.

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Edward Neal, a firefighter of 25 years with the City of Augusta, filed this discretionary appeal from the trial court’s decision upholding his termination by the Augusta-Richmond County Personnel Board”Augusta-Richmond County”. In his appeal, Neal challenges the admission of drug test results in the administrative proceeding where no one with knowledge of the lab test or testing procedures used in his case testified at the hearing. Under the circumstances presented in this case, we find that the evidence should not have been admitted and reverse the judgment of the trial court. The relevant facts are as follows. The Augusta-Richmond County Commission required its employees to submit to random drug testing as part of its substance abuse policy. Employees could be terminated from employment “for cause,” and testing positive for illegal drug use constituted grounds for termination.

Pursuant to the random drug test provision, a technician collected a urine specimen from Neal and sent the sample to an independent laboratory for testing. The written lab report indicated a result of “positive” for marijuana, and the result was sent from the lab to a physician employed by the County Commission. The physician, known as a medical review officer, contacted Neal to ask him if he was taking any medication that might explain the positive test result; Neal was not taking any such medication. The medical review officer sent a report to a manager with the county’s risk management office stating that Neal’s test result was positive for marijuana. The manager notified the fire department of the result and recommended termination. The fire chief informed Neal that he was being placed on administrative leave and recommended for termination, and that he had the right to appeal the disciplinary action.

Neal v. Augusta-Richmond County Personnel Bd.

The Court reversed the trial court's affirmance of a county personnel board's termination of a firefighter, because the board erred in admitting a lab report without allowing the firefighter to confront witnesses against him.

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