Luther7

I have recently interviewed with two companies, both with internal rec's and both have ended with the same result. I was told throughout both interviews that i did a great job and that i was the type of person they were looking for. I have 2000 TT, instructor background, and plenty of multi. Problem is i failed a drug test (pot) 8 years ago and in good faith disclosed this in both interviews. I was told it shouldn't be a problem as i have a clean track record since, and this has not been a recurring issue, I was 19 at the time. Both companies gave me the thanks but no thanks and when trying to inquire if this is the issue i received no response from either. Am i doomed? I find it so discouraging that trying to do the right thing and take responsibility for a past mistake is keeping me from moving on in my career. I realize competition is tough right now but i am looking for some advice on where to go from here???

rickair7777

The drug thing might be the problem. It's possible the interview team gave you the thumbs up but probably needed permission or a "waiver" from somebody higher up the food chain. It's possible this was not granted.

You said you failed a previous drug test? That could be a complete show stopper, or could be minor. What kind of test are we talking about?

If it was a DOT mandated drug test and you were employed as a pilot, truck driver, etc I'm guessing you are out of luck in 121 aviation. I'm not sure if they are even allowed to hire someone who flunked a DOT test, and even if they were I doubt they ever would.

Other types of tests would depend on the circumstances. I'm not even sure how an airline would find out about non-DOT drug tests.

-If it was a home drug-test your Mom made you do at age 16, stop telling people about, it's none of their business

- If it was a pre-employment test (non-DOT), and resulted in your not getting a job offer, forget about (don't do it again) and stop telling people.

- Most employers cannot legally do random drug tests, unless they are mandated by DOT for safery-sensitive jobs (pilot, trucker, etc). If you had an on-the-job accident, you could have been required to take a drug test. If you got fired because of that, you still have a problem but maybe not as bad as failing a DOT test.

Factors they will consider in these cases:

Best: You were very young, it was a long time ago, you were not a pilot (at least not CPL/ATP), not working in a safety sensitive job, it is not documented in any court records, and have a clean record otherwise.

Worst Case: You were older (25-30+), it was recent, you were a working professional pilot (including CFI) or driver, it was a DOT test, and you have other background issues.

Airlines are concerned with two issues: Will you do it again, and how will it look in the media/courtroom if there is an accident. I know a guy who had a minor weed possession incident in college...the airline hired him but said that he would have to get it expunged before he could start class. They didn't have a problem hiring him, but they wanted to minimize the paper trail.

Even though the general consensus is that an expungement may not prevent an airline from finding out about something, it is still probably a good idea to expunge anything you can. That dilutes it a little bit in the airline's eyes and may prevent a reporter from digging it out of court records after an accident.

Luther7

Thanks for the replay Rickair, Let me elaborate a bit more on the situation. I was working for an FBO at the time, I have spoke with the HR department and they have told me this was not a DOT mandated test. My concern falls within two areas. First, this was a random test and second, in this position i did hold SIDA access. I am afraid that even though what HR has told me, that they could be wrong and maybe this is on my permanent record? Is there anyway to get ahold of my DOT record? I thought long and hard about whether or not to disclose this to 121 carriers and since i had to provide a 10 year employment background i was concerned it might have turned up and given the impression that i was trying to hide something. Any advise is greatly appreciated.

Luther7

I should also add, that aside from this event and 2 speeding tickets over the years i have a clean background. I have been with my current employer now for 3 years, after this event occurred i have gone to college, earned a bachelors degree, and been very successful without incident. Just not sure what they are really looking for at this point considering this one time event happened 8 years ago.

rickair7777

If it was DOT, you should have been given copies of all paperwork and been given the opportunity to have an independent test done on the alternate sample. The employer must keep records of a positive test for 5 years, but they might keep them longer (I suspect most employers do).

If it was non-DOT, then state law would dictate the rules. In some states random tests are illegal, you can only do pre-employment and tests for cause (impaired on the job, accident). You may want to research the law in the state in which it occurred. Also find out if the testing was associated with or reported to the SIDA issuing authority.

I assume you got fired from that job? That could be a problem, because a reference check might turn up at least a "Not Eligible for Reemployment", and maybe more details.

You need to do some research about that state's laws. If the law was broken, have a lawyer contact the FBO and ask that all records of the event be purged and turned over to you. The lawyer may know of other remedies.

Also contact the FBO and find out what their policy is on reference checks, ie what info will they disclose. A reference caller will usually dig for as much info as he can get, but state law and company policy will usually limit what info can be provided...they might be limited to dates of employment without any adverse info about drug tests, termination, or re-employment eligibility.

You might have a friend pretend to be a reference checker and make that call...

Bottom line I think a failed on-the-job drug test is going to be a no-go in 121 for a very long time, maybe forever. Your best hope is going to be if the test was illegal. Otherwise you would be faced with the dilemma of whether or not disclose and risk termination after they find out. Make no mistake, if they find out about it after they hire you, they will terminate you unless there are some state legal issues with the test itself.

You might want to just talk to a lawyer now, someone who does employment drug test issues in the state in question.