Last updated : December 23, 2024
Wisconsin, although attempting to take a more lenient approach to substances such as marijuana, has not yet made a full transition. Therefore, if an employee has substances in his or her body at the time of an accident, there can be some serious penalties.
At the present time, Wisconsin has some of the strictest penalties of any of the surroundings states. While some of its neighbors have a harsher first offense policy, none of the other states make a second offense into an automatic felony. In other words, someone with a controlled substance arrest 18 years ago will automatically have another offense become a felony.Let’s say that an employee is on company business and has substances in his or her body when an accident takes place. The first consideration is going to be whether or not the accident was caused by the employee. For example, if the employee is sitting at a red light and gets rear-ended by an inattentive driver, an attorney can argue that the fact the employee had used substances would not have changed the outcome of the accident. On the other hand, if the accident is caused by the employee, the consequences can be far more serious.In Wisconsin, anyone who drives a motor vehicle gives implied consent to being subjected to breath tests or providing blood or urine samples. In the event that the driver fails to allow the test to be conducted, the driver is subject to a one year suspension of his or her driver’s license.
There are extenuating circumstances, however, such as if the driver has a prescription to use marijuana. It is important to understand, however, that it has to be a valid prescription. There have been drivers who have carried around paperwork that has a physician recommending the use of the substance, but under the conditions of the law, that paperwork is useless.
Something else that needs to be considered if an employee has substances in his or her body at the time of an accident is whether or not the employee is injured enough to apply for worker’s compensation. The employee and employer file paperwork to the State of Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development and the DWD decides whether or not the claim is valid. However, if there is an issue as to whether or not the employee was under the influence of an illegal substance, there is a strong possibility the claim will be denied. If the claim is denied, the employee can either file a formal appeal or can hire an attorney to contest the claim in court, but because of the substance that may have been found in his or her system, the claim still may be denied.
Unlike alcohol, some substances remain in the body for hours and even days from the time of initial usage. This is factored into cases involving accidents. An individual might have traces of a substance in his or her system, even though a significant length of time has passed since using the substance and being involved in an accident. It would be advisable to get an attorney for any legal problems that might arise as a result of the accident. The attorney can introduce any mitigating factors into the case, as well as dispute any test results.
