Chicago-area Catholic high school defeats
appeal over drug tests
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[March 30, 2017]
By Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) - A high school run by the
Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago on Wednesday defeated an appeal by seven
students who claimed that its drug testing program, in which they
received false positive results for cocaine, was racially
discriminatory.
By a 3-0 vote, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the six
African-American students and one white student failed to show that
Marian Catholic High School's drug tests violated federal civil rights
laws.
Each student at Marian Catholic, located in Chicago Heights, Illinois,
is randomly tested for illegal drugs at least once a year, and those
testing positive could face sanctions ranging from counseling to
expulsion.
The students said the school and Omega Laboratories, which analyzed the
test results, knew that hair of African-Americans and hair products used
by African-Americans raised the potential for false positives, yet
refused to change their protocols.
Writing for the Chicago-based appeals court, however, Chief Judge Diane
Wood said that even if one assumed that Omega's techniques were poor,
that was a "far cry" from showing that the tests were systematically
biased.
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"We readily accept the proposition that errors can creep into test
results," but this does not show racial discrimination unless
distinctions based on race "explain what is going on," Wood wrote.
"The operative complaint in this case fails to meet this burden."
Wednesday's decision upheld a May 2016 ruling by U.S. District Judge
Manish Shah in Chicago.
Mary Grieb, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, did not immediately respond
to requests for comment.
Andrew Kopon, a lawyer for the school and Omega, said in an
interview the decision shows that Marian Catholic did not
discriminate.
The case is L.P. et al v Marian Catholic High School et al, 7th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 16-2856.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bill Trott)
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