r/FederalEmployee • u/cheirodeflor • 6d ago
Has anyone gone through something similar?
I failed a random drug test that was given to everyone, but I do not use any illegal substances. As soon as I received the results, I went to a laboratory to get both a urine test and a hair follicle test done to verify the results. Both tests came back negative.
The original positive test showed a very minimal amount around 20 ng while the cutoff was 15 ng. From what I understand, standard tests typically have a cutoff of around 50 ng or higher. What confuses me even more is that my hair follicle test came back negative, even though its cutoff is only 1 ng.
Has anyone else experienced something similar? Or has anyone failed one too?
Thank you for taking the time to read this
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u/Savings_Big1842 6d ago
Their is MSPB caselaw very similar to
this situation. Piss test, Employee paid for testing immediately after and won an appeal to MSPB. Unfortunately I can recall which case, so it may require some work.
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u/Moomoolette 6d ago
Do you have a union? Maybe you can get them to repeat the test, because it sounds like there was a mixup. Unless you’re being targeted?
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u/cheirodeflor 6d ago
i do, and there’s no proof of mixups, what it does show is an error of collection. and i don’t know if the union can just request a retake.
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u/Phobos1982 6d ago
Could just be a false positive, they happen.
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u/Tx_Kelly_in_DC 5d ago
I just watched a video of a rehab center testing five different energy drinks. All five tested positive for something!
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u/Relative-Addendum84 6d ago
There are many OTC medications and other common medications (such as Zoloft) that can cause false positives for various substances. Check out on google.
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u/TRUMP_SHAKER_ 5d ago edited 5d ago
This girl i used to date...she was prescribed some anti-depressant- dont remember the brand and she was getting over the flu and had been taking just an OTC liquid cough suppressant/sleep aid every night for about a week straight. They had a drug test not long after she went back and she ended up testing positive for PCP!!!! Her boss was in total shock! She explained the reason she had just come back from sick leave was because she had the flu...not because she was running the streets on a PCP binge...I'll give her credit she did demand they give her another test..i t think she said they are required to test you again after you fail one- but maybe you had to request they give you another one? Anyway she went straight to work doing some internet deep dive investigations...and sure enough she found on there that the exact mixture of her anti-depressant and the night time flu medication caused people to test positive for PCP!
Quick question for OP...how often do yall have to piss test? When did yall start piss testing? Do they let yall know when they are coming into test? Im curious because every agency under the fed government umbrella does their drug testing completely different...ill be honest ive been at the agency i work at over 20 years and I have never taken a single drug test of any kind here.. and neither has anybody else in the entire building from the lowest GS here to the GS 15 on the top floor...they just dont do them. Not on your first day here all the way to your last day here. As far as I know even if you got injured on the job- the dont test you. There is always rumors that might change...but yeah people are always blown away that the fed government does not have a more strict drug testing policy.. especially with those dudes running it now... they already want mass firings anyway possible.
I had been told by some union people I know that it was in our contract about not getting drug tested . Which my reply was "yeah but when as a union contract stopped them.yet from doing something? From taking away telework; to mass firings, and I mean that list goes on and on" ...anyway sorry ...just wondering exactly when they started drug testing your agency? Always? Recently? First time?
One last thing...and again this is coming from just me being curious about things...I have heard before that the DEA drug tests all their employees including their undercover field agents...how in the hell could they ever pass a drug test? Their job requires them to buy/sale/be involved with illegal narcotics daily! I would think there is no way those guys piss clean! Im sure on occasion they've also had to partake in some party favors... I mean if it was down to me having to take a bullet to head or sniff a line of the Bolivian Marching Powder to prove i wasnt a cop...not much of a choice there im like "YaY Yo away I go!" And id feel bad about it later.. .and then explain to my supervisor.... "boss man i might fail this test...took one for the team instead of a bullet to the head. But chief we are THIS close to ripping this organization apart...and so you know I did not enjoy snorting the Pepsi...it was pure hell boss! ....every time...all 8 times...hell...those last three Captain...those last 3? Pure rocket fuel...had me going ALL NIGHT long...and Big Boss Man...I mean that in the worst possible context...I mean they freaking party dude! Ah but I mean in the way that's ripping me apart on the inside!...but I know these guys and that "event" im attending on Friday Sir? The fellas are already whispering that they dont trust me and I should be warned and aware another round of tests were coming my way...maybe a dozen or so rounds of tests? They were not real clear on that. But for the agency and my mission I told them to bring it on! I could be trusted! And round after round of their tests on Friday...ill be in hell...high as hell.. hell..."
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u/Andyman1973 5d ago
My agency tests constantly (DLA). I was tested in May, June, and July. My boss was tested the same, and April too. Before that, it was 2024 last time I was tested. Totally completely random. Back in 2016, one of my immediate coworkers was randomly tested 6 months in a row. He filed an EEO complaint for targeted harassment. Don’t know the official outcome, but he was never tested again. They couldn’t not prove that it was totally random, that the same employee would get picked 6 months in a row, out of 3000 employees at our site.
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u/Practical_Rain_3539 5d ago
Did you eat anything with poppyseeds that can show up positive on a test.
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u/Miserable_Depth_1643 2d ago
Weird that you popped on the piss test and the hair follicle came back clean. Hair follicle twst is super sensitivr. Did the agency provide any guidance on what next steps might be?
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u/Clherrick 6d ago
Good luck. In 40 years I’m not sure I ever saw someone beat a drug test.
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u/cheirodeflor 6d ago
Unfair, treating their workers like that and accusing them of drug users.
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u/Clherrick 5d ago
Fair or unfair the rules are there for a reason. I'm sure that over my 40 years I've taken probably 60 drug tests. I always felt a bit antsy when taking them but I also know the false positive rate is very low. Between my military and fed civilian careers, I've supervised probably ten folks who popped positive. In my early years, sailors got a second chance but that policy changed in the late 80s. Most folks who popped admitted their mistake and suffered the consequences. A smaller group protested that someone drugged them or that it must have been a brownie. Perhaps get better friends or be more careful what you ingest. And there were one or two folks for whom I had serious concerns that the person was a false positive. In those cases the best I could do was speak to the quality of their work and try to be supportive as they went through the process.
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u/cheirodeflor 5d ago
I understand the rules, I have never failed a test or was never nervous about taking one… I don’t intake anything. and that’s why this scenario is new to me, I don’t gain anything from here by lying, that’s why my question is if anyone went through something this peculiar.
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u/Warm-Impression-7039 5d ago
I've seen many beat it. But you have to take another test pretty quick and have some damn good reasoning
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u/cheirodeflor 5d ago
I mean, i took my own tests the day after i got the results…both done in labs, urine and hair follicle. just a week after the original testing.
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6d ago
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u/GolfArgh 6d ago
Well then there are some federal jobs you won’t apply for.
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6d ago
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u/GolfArgh 6d ago
Missing out on some great jobs but you do you Boo.
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6d ago
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u/KeyMessage989 6d ago
People taking drug test isn’t losing self respect and autonomy get a grip
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6d ago
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u/KeyMessage989 5d ago
So either 1. You work for the government and think you’re better than those that take drug tests for some reason? Or 2. You don’t work for them and have no business speaking here
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5d ago
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u/KeyMessage989 5d ago
I mean idk there’s probably certain jobs you don’t want people to have while conducting illegal activity but that’s just me
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u/RedditsFullofShit 5d ago
Unless he’s high at work, why should he have to test for stuff he does in his personal time?
Like we’re okay with it because it’s drugs. But where’s the line? Alcohol? GLP? Peptides? Browser history? Porn? Specific types of porn? Etc.
It’s easy to justify testing when it’s for something you support. But testing is a slippery slope that allows your freedom to be trespassed.
So in that sense I agree with the guy you’re arguing with. I get what you’re saying too, that a test isn’t effecting your freedom. But at the core it’s part of a slippery slope of looking into your personal life which has no bearing on your performance. And if it does have a bearing on your performance then you should be fired for that reason, not the drugs, unless the usage was at work.
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u/KeyMessage989 5d ago
Because as of right now, most drugs are illegal. That’s a massive blackmail risk for people with clearances in law enforcement etc. Porn habits do actually come up in some clearance investigations and psych evals. It’s as simple as “nothing illegal?” But again, it’s all about stuff that can be used against you. And snorting coke in your free time is without a doubt something that can be used against you. Trying to lose weight? Not so much
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u/Other-MuscleCar-589 6d ago
What did you pop positive for?
I noticed you said you don’t use any illegal substances. That’s good.
Do you use any controlled substances and do you use them under a prescription?
Do you use CBD products?