Tiff over CUC’s drug test policy heightens • Villagomez hits back at Camacho for ‘grandstanding’

Commonwealth Utilities Corporation Executive Director Timothy P. Villagomez has lashed back at Thomas J. Camacho, chief of the Governor’s Developmental Disabilities Council, for alleged “inaccuracies and apparent grandstanding” stemming from a recent memorandum.

He criticized the memo issued by Camacho which had questioned the drug and alcohol policies of the government-owned utility firm in line with the provisions of the American with Disabilities Act or ADA.

“Your memorandum, unfortunately, is based on numerous inaccuracies and its public release prior to adequate verification of the fact is nothing short of irresponsible,” Villagomez said in a letter to Camacho.

The utility chief defended the company policies on drug and alcohol use, saying CUC “fully complies” with the ADA requirements and that the management adheres to the existing laws in implementing these guidelines.

Early this month, the Council cautioned the utility corporation against the policy of pre-employment drug and alcohol screening, saying the agency may face discrimination suit if it failed to implement the requirement properly.

Camacho prodded utility officials to take corrective action on such a policy to avoid violation of the federal civil rights law for persons with disabilities, who also include those in drug or alcohol rehabilitation.

Its warnings were based on information from a CUC job vacancy announcement in which it specified that pre-employment drug screening may be required for the hiring process.

CUC is known as having one of the toughest policies against drug users in the CNMI, even requiring private vendors doing business with the corporation to ensure that their employees are drug-free.

According to Villagomez, CUC does not conduct an alcohol test prior to employment and that drug screening is performed only after a job offer has been made to an applicant.

He added their policy has built-in safeguards and a right-to-appeal procedure to avoid false positive results in cases where they find their employees violating these rules.

“CUC takes pride in being a drug free work place. We have gone to great lengths to implement a Drug and Alcohol Policy that is fair, protects the interests of our employees and the public and, above all, is legal,” said the executive director.

Camacho’s memo, “with its gross inaccuracies and apparent grandstanding, does a monumental disservice to the entire Commonwealth as we all try to deal with the issues of drug abuse and prevention,” added Villagomez.

The GDDC executive director could not be reached for comment on CUC’s response to his earlier letter.