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Anchorage Police Dept. Employees Association v. Municipality of Anchorage6/15/2001
urth Amendment. But we need not speculate on this issue. Because we address the policy's validity under the more protective requirements of the Alaska Constitution, we conclude on the present record -- which reveals no documented history of substance abuse problems among Police Employees or Fire Fighters members and fails to establish that the policy's goals will not be adequately addressed by its remaining suspicionless testing provisions -- that the random testing provision is unreasonable and therefore violates article I, section 14 of the Alaska Constitution.
B. Public Interest Litigant Status
On cross-appeal, the Municipality argues that the trial court abused its discretion by finding that Police Employees and Fire Fighters were public interest litigants and by failing to award attorney's fees to the Municipality on this basis. We reject this argument.
We restated the criteria for determining whether a party is a public interest litigant in Valley Hospital Ass'n v. Mat-Su Coalition for Choice:
(1) the case effectuates a strong public policy,
(2) numerous people will benefit from the litigation,
(3) only a private party could be expected to bring the action, and
(4) the party would not have sufficient economic incentive to bring the lawsuit even if the action involved only narrow issues lacking general importance.
The Police Employees and the Fire Fighters satisfy each criterion.
The trial court did not clearly err when it determined that this litigation was brought to effectuate a strong public policy regarding the privacy interests of Alaskan citizens and the constitutional limitations on search and seizure. When litigants seek to effect strong policies like those affecting privacy interests, they benefit all Alaskans, satisfying the second criterion -- that numerous people benefit from the litigation. The Municipality does not contest that only a private party could be expected to bring this action, thus satisfying the third criterion. Finally, the Municipality's speculation that economic incentives motivated the Fire Fighters and Police Employees to bring this action is without merit. While the Municipality raises the possibility that individual Police Employees and Fire Fighters could lose their jobs due to drug use detected under the Municipality's policy, the Fire Fighters and Police Employees, as employee groups, have no economic interest in the litigation. Moreover, the two groups asserted that their interests in pursuing constitutional limitations on suspicionless drug testing significantly outweigh individual economic interests in departments with no history of pervasive drug abuse. The trial court so held, and we agree.
We therefore conclude that the superior court did not abuse its discretion in finding Police Employees and Fire Fighters to be public interest litigants.
V. CONCLUSION
Except as to the random testing provision, we AFFIRM the superior court's ruling upholding the validity of the disputed Municipality policy. We also AFFIRM the trial court's conclusion that Police Employees and Fire Fighters are public interest litigants. As to the random testing policy, we REVERSE for the reasons stated in this opinion.
MATTHEWS, Chief Justice, dissenting.
I agree with Judge Hunt's thorough and carefully reasoned opinion which upholds the right of the Municipality of Anchorage to randomly test police and firefighters for drug use. I have but little to add to her opinion.
Cases supporting suspicionless random drug testing of public employees whose work affects the public safety include the follow
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