(a) All information, interviews, reports, statements, memoranda and drug or alcohol test results, written or otherwise, received by the covered employer through a drug or alcohol testing program are confidential communications and may not be used or received in evidence, obtained in discovery or disclosed in any public or private proceedings, except in accordance with this section or in determining compensability under this chapter.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 50-9-109

  • Alcohol test: means an analysis of breath, or blood, or any other analysis that determines the presence and level or absence of alcohol as authorized by the United States department of transportation in its rules and guidelines concerning alcohol testing and drug testing. See Tennessee Code 50-9-103
  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Covered employer: means a person or entity that employs a person, is covered by the Workers' Compensation Law, compiled in chapter 6 of this title, maintains a drug-free workplace pursuant to this chapter and includes on the posting required by §. See Tennessee Code 50-9-103
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Drug: means any controlled substance subject to testing pursuant to drug testing regulations adopted by the United States department of transportation. See Tennessee Code 50-9-103
  • Employee: means any individual who performs services for a covered employer for wages if the services performed by the individual qualify as an employer-employee relationship with the employer based upon consideration of the following twenty (20) factors as described in the twenty-factor test of Internal Revenue Service Revenue Ruling 87-41, 1987-1 C. See Tennessee Code 50-9-103
  • Employer: means a person or entity that employs a person and that is covered by the Workers' Compensation Law, compiled in chapter 6 of this title. See Tennessee Code 50-9-103
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Job applicant: means a person who has applied for a position with a covered employer and who has been offered employment conditioned upon successfully passing a drug or alcohol test, and may have begun work pending the results of the drug or alcohol test. See Tennessee Code 50-9-103
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • test: means any chemical, biological or physical instrumental analysis administered by a laboratory authorized to do so pursuant to this chapter, for the purpose of determining the presence or absence of a drug or its metabolites pursuant to regulations governing drug testing adopted by the United States department of transportation or other recognized authority approved by rule by the commissioner of labor and workforce development. See Tennessee Code 50-9-103
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) Covered employers, laboratories, medical review officers, employee assistance programs, drug or alcohol rehabilitation programs and their agents who receive or have access to information concerning drug or alcohol test results shall keep all information confidential. Release of the information under any other circumstance is authorized solely pursuant to a written consent form signed voluntarily by the person tested, unless the release is compelled by a hearing officer or a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to an appeal taken under this section, relevant to a legal claim asserted by the employee or is deemed appropriate by a professional or occupational licensing board in a related disciplinary proceeding. The consent form must contain, at a minimum:

(1) The name of the person who is authorized to obtain the information;
(2) The purpose of the disclosure;
(3) The precise information to be disclosed;
(4) The duration of the consent; and
(5) The signature of the person authorizing release of the information.
(c) Information on drug or alcohol test results for tests administered pursuant to this chapter shall not be released or used in any criminal proceeding against the employee or job applicant. Information released contrary to this section is inadmissible as evidence in the criminal proceeding.
(d) This section does not prohibit a covered employer, agent of the employer or laboratory conducting a drug or alcohol test from having access to employee drug or alcohol test information or using the information when consulting with legal counsel in connection with actions brought under or related to this section, or when the information is relevant to its defense in a civil or administrative matter. Neither is this section intended to prohibit disclosure among management as is reasonably necessary for making disciplinary decisions relating to violations of drug or alcohol standards of conduct adopted by an employer.
(e) A covered employer shall notify the parents or legal guardians of a minor of the results of any drug or alcohol testing program conducted pursuant to this chapter. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, an employer is authorized to disclose the results to parents and guardians and an employer shall not be liable for any disclosure permitted by this subsection (e).
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