If I have to give UA to county and it will be clean can i sue them ?

Get Legal Help Today

Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption

If I have to give UA to county and it will be clean can i sue them ?

had baby, hospital did UA said traces of cannibus, I am a non-user, I researched it and a false reading can show fron ibprofin and prenatal vitamins and homopathic earbs (teas) can show false reading,county wants random UA, I have done nothing wrong

Asked on May 31, 2009 under Criminal Law, Minnesota

Answers:

M.S., Member, Connecticut Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 14 years ago | Contributor

You can always sue.  The question is really framed properly as follows:  Can you win, can you recover damages, and can you find a lawyer to take your case.  First, you probably will not be able to win this type of lawsuit.  In order to win a civil suit, you generally would need to show that the person you are suing was either negligent or reckless in some manner, and that the negligence caused you some type of injury.  A false reading from a urine test, operating within a margin of error, would probably not meet this standard.  

Second, it is unclear whether you have suffered any damages outside of having to submit to random urinalysis.  Although I am sure that this is annoying, a jury would be unlikely to award damages in an amount that would justify, from a financial perspective, bringing this type of suit.  If, on the other hand, you lost custody of your child as a result of a false positive, this type of situation could give rise to more serious damages.

Which brings me to my third point.  If you were to hire an attorney to bring this type of action and you paid the attorney on an hourly basis, chances are you would spend far in excess of any amount that you would ever recover.  On the other hand, it is unlikely that you would be able to hire an attorney on a contingency (you only pay if you win) basis, due to the small amount of any potential damages.

For the above reasons, I think that unless there are some additional facts present (i.e., county knowing that it was a false positive, or, that you have lost custody of your children) i do not think that you have a strong civil lawsuit in this instance.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

Get Legal Help Today

Find the right lawyer for your legal issue.

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption