New case law – case concerning the dismissal of a forklift driver who tested positive for drugs (AD 2026 nr 21)

A warehouse worker was dismissed after driving a forklift truck both before and after taking a random saliva drug test at work, which subsequently tested positive for amphetamine. The Labour Court ruled that the positive test result was reliable and that the warehouse worker had knowingly (intentionally) used amphetamine. The Labour Court stated that there are normally grounds for dismissal when an employee, whose duties are significantly dangerous or unlawful to perform whilst under the influence of drugs, has drugs in their system at work. As the forklift driving carried out by the warehouse worker whilst under the influence of amphetamine was both significantly dangerous and unlawful, there were lawful grounds for dismissal. According to the Labour Court, this applied despite the fact that the concentration of amphetamine in the saliva was low, as there is currently no testing method capable of measuring the degree of influence of amphetamine.

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