Employers Walk Fine Line With Opioid-Addicted Workers

Workers suffering from addiction are protected under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, unless they’re currently using drugs illegally—a legal wrinkle that creates uncertainty for employers and employees in the midst of a national opioid epidemic.

“Case law is all over the map on this question as to what counts as current use,” said Charlotte Lanvers, a trial attorney in the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, where her job includes pursuing disability discrimination cases.

Some federal circuits have ruled “current use” should include illegal drug use as much as a few weeks or a few months ago, Lanvers told ...