Alaska Airlines Clashes With Union: Mechanic's Positive Marijuana Test Sparks Legal Battle

Last week’s news that the job of an Alaska Air Group, Inc. ALK's Alaska Airlines mechanic was to be restored after being terminated for testing positive for cannabis in July 2022 has taken a turn. 

Alaska Airlines is now taking legal action against a mechanics union, challenging an arbitration decision that reinstated the 23-year-old Gregory Chappell. The airline argues that the arbitration board overstepped its bounds and made decisions not based on factual evidence, according to the lawsuit filed in a U.S. District Court in Washington state.

Lee Seham, the mechanics union lawyer, told Marijuana Moment on Friday that it's “extremely uncommon” for companies to dispute arbitration outcomes in federal court as they are usually seen as final.

What Happened

The legal fracas began when Chappell failed a random drug test on July 5, 2022, though he vehemently denied consuming cannabis and said he did not know how THC ended up in his system.

Aviation Safety Expert Weighs In

“He attended a block party one day, with many tables of food. It was at this event he inadvertently and unknowingly consumed THC because some idiot put it in their food,” said Dr. Karlene Petitt, an international airline pilot with a 42-year career of flying. “He had no idea. He was not impaired. The next Monday he went to work. He happened to get a random drug test,” added Petitt, an aviation safety specialist and author who holds Ph.D., MBA and MHS degrees.

In a blog post, Petitt pointed out that, during the grievance, Alaska Airlines stipulated:

1) A positive THC result does not demonstrate impairment.

2) There is no evidence that the mechanic was performing his job in an unsafe manner at or around the time of the drug test at issue.

3) The mechanic completed his SAP evaluation and education program satisfactorily and there is no regulatory bar to his re-employment.

4) The medical and recreational use of marijuana is legal in Washington State.

Now that Alaska Airlines is suing a mechanics union in federal court, Petitt sees some potential issues if the company wins. “I see three major problems here: the grievance process is worth nothing if an employee wins and the airline does not have to accept the ruling. 2. That an airline will go out of its way to destroy a person's career for something they did not intentionally do, which did not impact safety,” Pettit said.

“Alaska's policy even allows for flight attendants and pilots to return to duty even if they intentionally smoked Marijuana or take any drugs of any kind. But a mechanic who didn't know it was happening, is terminated.”

Call To Action

Petitt says “This is wrong on so many levels.”

Then she signs off with a call to action.

Please join me in asking @AlaskaAir to find compassion & allow a mechanic to return to work. He is a victim of circumstance. https://t.co/Y1aR4x3Y0S #Travel #avgeek #union #justice @badlin @aneripattani @kylejaeger @Filtermag_org @JavierHasse @Peter_Grinspoon @CannabisHnews pic.twitter.com/RixNL2Boxx

— Karlene Petitt (@KarlenePetitt) October 23, 2023

She adds you can contact Alaska Air about Gregory Chappell at:

Twitter @Alaska Air on

LinkedIn at Alaska Airlines and

Facebook at Alaska Airlines