Drug Testing of Professional Athletes

Pro sports leagues derive their power to test athletes for drugs from collective bargaining agreements and the leaguesÆ by-laws. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) requires an employer to bargain collectively with the representatives of the employees over mandatory subjects, which are ôwages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.ö Drug testing is a ôterm and condition of employmentö (Jefferson, 1997). Thus, the player unions of each major sport have consented to drug testing, with such consent later ratified by a union-wide vote, though not in baseball.

These agreements have rarely been the subject of litigation, for two seasons. First, the NLRA states a preference for grievance resolution by arbitration. Congress believed that

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.ö In 1983, Kuhn suspended four players from the Kansas City Royals for one year because of their convictions for cocaine possession. He cited his new rule as authority. The MLB Players Association immediately challenged KuhnÆs action, and an arbitrator ruled in the playersÆ favor. As a result, the suspended players were entitled to procedural due process according to the rules of the collective bargaining agreement. All four filed file grievances and had their suspensions reduced or eliminated (Stiglitz, 1995). Baseball operated in this manner for more than a decade. The Commissioner adopted rules regarding drug use, then tried to enforce them. The MLB Players Association accepted some of the CommissionerÆs rulings and objected to others. When they disagreed, the matter went to arbitration. That trial and error produced the rough outlines of a drug policy. Baseball only tests those players who have admitted to a drug offense, or those players that MLB or the team reasonably suspect are using drugs. A second positive drug tests results in a 60-day suspension; a third positive test results in a one-year suspension. This system has often proven unworkable, as demonstrated by HoweÆs case. Howe first had admitted dr
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