San Diego

A San Diego truck driver filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging that Arco denied him a job and smeared his reputation on the basis of an inaccurate pre-employment drug test.

The driver, Larry Hedrick, said the test also led to him being barred from entering Arco’s truck terminal on Harbor Drive--a step that has reduced his usefulness to his current employer, a trucking firm that does contract work for the oil company.

Attorney Virginia Gaburo, who filed the suit in San Diego County Superior Court, said Hedrick tested positive for marijuana use when he applied for a job with Arco in August, though he said had not smoked marijuana for several years.

Arco refused to retest him, she said, although a test conducted by his employers at Exclusive Transportation Corp. found no evidence Hedrick was using drugs.

Al Greenstein, a spokesman for Arco in Los Angeles, confirmed that the company conducts urinalyses of all job applicants. Greenstein said two tests are performed on a single urine sample; applicants are rejected as drug users only if both give positive results. The company will not retest an applicant at his or her request, Greenstein added.

He said the firm had not seen the lawsuit and was unprepared to comment on its allegations.