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By JAXON VAN DERBEKEN
The San Francisco Chronicle (California)
SAN FRANCISCO — The first employee caught under the Fire Department’s new drug and alcohol testing program was suspended for 90 days Thursday for using cocaine.
Firefighter Scott Doonan, who has two years in the department, was allowed to enter into a “last chance’’ agreement with the department. He will be on probation for three years and must undergo a monthlong treatment program as well as 52 counseling sessions.
In addition, Doonan is banned from driving any fire vehicle for a year and must be tested at the start of every shift, as well as randomly tested.
“This is the first violation which has arisen from our random, on-duty drug and alcohol testing,’' Chief Joanne Hayes-White said. She said the case lacked the aggravating circumstances that could have merited firing Doonan.
In a letter sent last month to the commission, Hayes-White said Doonan had been tested at random Nov. 29 and had levels of cocaine in his system that were “inconsistent with approved medications.’'
The department began random drug and alcohol testing of the city’s 1,600 firefighters in September.
Officials started the program after years of controversy over accusations that the department tolerated on-duty drinking. Their goal is to test as many as 400 firefighters annually.