An employer recently contacted us to perform a reasonable suspicion test on one of their employees. One of the employer’s supervisors had attended our Reasonable Suspicion Training Class and was equipped with the knowledge of how to spot the signs and symptoms of an impaired employee.

As we teach in the class, the employer had the employee escorted to the clinic. You should never allow an employee you believe might be impaired drive themselves to the clinic. Doing so is a safety hazard to the public and could be a huge liability to the employer if the employee harms someone on their way to the clinic. You’d be surprised how many employees arrive at our clinic drunk, having driven themselves there on the directions of their employers – it happens several times a year.

First we did a breath alcohol test and the results were negative. Next, the urine drug test was started and the donor was unable to urinate (at least that was their story) so we began the shy bladder process and gave the donor a measured amount of water.

The donor was on the shy bladder protocol for over 2 hours and would soon be approaching the 3-hour limit when the testing procedure would be stopped by the collector per regulation.

The time was mid-afternoon, and the waiting room was empty except for our shy bladder patron when a female donor walked in. She did not seem to know who (what employer) she was testing for. She sat down to call her employer but only one chair was between her and our shy bladder donor. This seemed odd, since the entire waiting room was empty and most people would sit on the opposite side of the room.

After a couple of minutes, the female donor came to the receptionist’s window and proclaimed she was at the wrong clinic then left abruptly.

As the front door was closing, our shy bladder donor proudly proclaimed he could now urinate. The collector took him back and he produced a specimen. Our collector, who had only been with us about 60 days, accepted the specimen but deep down his gut told him something was wrong. The donor left the office and went outside the building to wait for the Uber his employer had called. The collector’s gut kept nagging at him and he asked us to review our video cameras. Once we watched the footage, we saw that the female who had just left stuck something in a magazine and returned the magazine to the rack, only for our donor to go immediately to the rack to retrieve that very same magazine.

Once we saw the evidence it was blatantly clear what happened: the donor texted the female, either while he was on the way to our clinic or shortly after he arrived. It took the female 2 hours to find and purchase synthetic urine and bring it to the clinic. During that time, they concocted a fake story and figured out how to get the fake pee in our donor’s hand. What they hadn’t counted on is our collector’s 6th sense: his gut.

Once the plot had been foiled, management approached the donor, who was still waiting on the Uber outside the clinic, and told him what we had discovered on the camera. He was given the opportunity to give another specimen under direct observation procedures or the test would be considered a refusal. He chose refusal.

Does the clinic that performs your drug test have employees with a 6th sense? Hire First Choice Drug Testing to help keep your company drug free!