Should a positive test result for drugs or alcohol in an employee's system after a workplace injury precludes that employee from receiving workers' compensation benefits? Normally, yes, but not recently in Arizona, where the state's constitution mandates workers' compensation benefits under a "no fault" system (with the exception of intentional self-inflicted injuries). In a recent Arizona Supreme Court decision, the court addressed the controversial issue of whether Article 18, Section 8 of the Arizona constitution impermissibly requires proof that the presence of alcohol or illegal drugs in an injured worker's system was not a contributing cause of the accident before workers' compensation benefits may be awarded. The effect of requiring that high threshold of proof would be the denial of benefits to injured workers who could not prove that the necessary risk or danger of employment wholly caused the accident.
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