CLEVELAND, October 31 — In an order issued earlier today, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has temporarily stayed implementation of a Department of Transportation regulation that would have required direct observation of urine specimen donation in all return-to-duty and follow-up drug tests, which was to take effect tomorrow.
The stay will remain in effect until the Court considers and rules on an emergency motion filed by nine unions — including the BLET and International Brotherhood of Teamsters — and the BNSF Railway to stay the regulation until it has ruled on challenges to the constitutionality and legality of mandatory direct observation and an associated “strip search” requirement.