Media Coverage

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, the world's leading provider of diagnostic information services, received a perfect score of 100 from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation on the 2019 Corporate Equality Index, earning the distinction of being a "Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality." The Corporate Equality Index (CEI) is a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality, administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. This is third year Quest has earned the designation as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality.

Quest Diagnostics, the world's leading provider of diagnostic information services, hosted Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker at its state-of-the-art clinical testing laboratory in Marlborough, Massachusetts on Friday, March 29. During the visit Governor Baker toured the laboratory, met with employees, and learned more about the company's initiatives in the areas of pricing transparency, Alzheimer's treatment and detection, and combatting the opioid epidemic. Marlborough Mayor Arthur Vigeant joined Governor Baker on the visit.

The prospect of marijuana legalization might inspire visions of weed-smoking breaks at work, or grabbing a joint with co-workers after a hectic day at the office.[CR-LF][CR-LF]But the reality of legalization in Illinois, if it happens at all, would likely be much hazier. Some employers might start turning a blind eye to employee use — as long as workers can still do their jobs — a trend that’s already happening in some other states where it’s legal. Other employers, however, might still ban its use, taking action against employees who test positive for pot, bolstered by federal law under which marijuana is still illegal, experts say. In Colorado, about 96 percent of employers who used the drug testing company Quest Diagnostics in 2017 still included marijuana in their employee drug testing, said Dr. Barry Sample, senior director of science and technology for Quest’s employers solutions business. In Nevada, where recreational cannabis use is also legal, that number was 91 percent in 2017.

Currently 10 states and Washington, D.C., allow recreational use of marijuana, and Illinois, New Jersey and New York are considering doing the same. This puts companies—already grappling with a shortage of workers—in a bind because an increasing number of candidates are failing routine drug tests due to smoking pot in those states, the Wall Street Journal reports. While legalized marijuana has created jobs and brought in additional tax dollars for those states, the spillover effect has more job applicants unable to pass standard drug tests, according to Quest Diagnostics.

In a perspective article in the New York Times, Dr. Diane M. Simeone, who directs the Pancreatic Cancer Center at New York University Langone Health, suggested that early detection is a solution. Quest Diagnostics found that 5.3 percent of retail workers tested positive for drugs in 2017, up from 4.7 percent in 2015, and the highest of any job sector. The Quest sampling suggests that about 837,000 of the 15.8 million retail workers across the U.S. would have tested positive if all had been checked.