tl;dr: Place gave me two 'random' drug tests in a row, tried to not pay me for the day I spent out getting it done, and I used the threat of legal action to get paid. Know your rights!
Thos got longer than I thought it would. My apologies!
I used to work for a VERY small monitoring company in the southwest, partially because one of my old friends in high school helped build the place from the ground up. The job was basically to watch over 350 screens a night for different locations, taking action when something went wrong or certain conditions were met. It wasn't too stressful, but there were a few really annoying bits that got to me.
The first was the owner and his wife: they took FAR too large of a paycheck compared to us. I got paid 10 dollars an hour when minimum wage was 7.25, and then when the minimum was raised to 10, we got a whole 50 cents raise. Not ideal, but I had no other job prospects so I coped. Next, our equipment was really bad. It was the same computers that they had opened the business with, nearly 13 years old when I started. They crapped out often and we were expected to try and fix them if we could. Yeah, it's hard to fix this crap when half your monitoring programs have memory leaks and force a restart 6 times a shift. Last, the owner gave out the office camera login info to EVERY SINGLE CLIENT. Not only that, but he offered it to PROSPECTIVE clients to show off how professional we were or something. We would frequently get calls from the boss telling us to sit up straighter or 'look happier.' I'll look happier when I know my rent is paid, you dick.
Anyway, towards the end of my time there, the boss man got annoyed with me because I was vocal about a promise he made regarding our raises when the minimum jumped up. His words were 'I promise, your raises won't just be a couple of quarters.' Joke was on us I guess, because it was exactly a couple of quarters. I told him that burger flippers were making more and that he was going to lose his most tenured employees to something less stressful. He replied with “What other job let's you sit on your ass all day and pays you? Get out of my office.”
Lots of them do, and I luckily found one in short order. However, during my search, someone leaked my plans to my high school friend, who in turn told the boss like a good little stooge. Suddenly, there were 'random drug tests' which were fine, but they picked me. Okay, cool, I did the shitty bathroom test from CVS and passed.
Two weeks later, another 'random' test, and wouldn't you know it, my name came out of the hat AGAIN. Shocking. I let them know, in no uncertain terms, that this was just shy of harassment, but took the test.
Failed. For opiates in my system.
I couldn't believe it. I had issues with those in the past (a shit doctor and bad back easily lead to addiction), but hadn't had anything in well over a year before I started. This had to be fake. I demanded a real lab test when they met with me in their office. Without one, I was absolutely going to file any lawsuit I could, because it was already suspicious that I had to do this twice in a row. The wife pulled boss man aside and they had a hushed conversation. As they spoke, I could see my termination papers on the table. This was rigged from the start, I realized. I guess they realized they were figured out, so they sent me with paperwork to get my drug test done.
I did just that, hopping on the city bus since I had no car at the time, and made it in about an hour and a half. The place was PACKED, so I had to wait another three hours to be seen, well after closing time. I finally did the test, they said the preliminary looked good and to wait for the full results from my employer, and went home.
The story isn't done yet. I came back the next day to hear I had passed, and went to working as usual. Things were quiet until I got my check: they hadn't paid me for that day. I immediately sent an email with the relevant labor laws, the part about employer-ordered drug testing highlighted. They owed me for the day, and I was going to collect, even if it wasn't much.
They fought me on that for a while, even after I quit, so I went to a friend of my mom's who works as an assistant to the district attorney's office. She gladly drew up an official-looking order to pay, with interest (it had been a few months now) and we mailed it off. It was the only time I have ever had anything made of the sort, so I was eager to see what the result was.
Imagine my surprise when the wife calls me and schedules a meeting where she will cut me a check for the full amount, interest included. On my way, her husband sends me an email, apparently without knowing what his wife was doing, offering the base amount with no interest. I draft a reply, but wait until after she paid me to respond, adding an image of the check she gave me as 'proof their legal obligations have been met.' I hope they argued over it.