BEER MAKER SUED OVER DRUG SEARCH.

Byline: Steven J. Gorman Daily News Staff Writer

Twenty current and former Anheuser-Busch Inc. employees have filed suit claiming that the company violated their civil rights in a drug search at the Van Nuys brewery last year that targeted senior and dissident workers.

The case, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, adds to a lawsuit brought in November by four other current and former employees alleging the company invaded the privacy of workers at the plant and subjected them to false imprisonment, defamation and emotional distress during the drug sweep.

A federal judge dismissed the earlier lawsuit July 9, ruling that the courts did not have jurisdiction over what amounted to a labor dispute covered under a collective-bargaining agreement and subject to binding arbitration.

The employees have appealed that decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

A lawyer for Anheuser-Busch, John Golper, said Wednesday that the company ``acted completely lawfully'' and that Aug. 18 search was carried out as part of an effort ``to ensure a drug-free workplace.''

He acknowledged the new lawsuit's claim that company owner August Busch III had approved the operation, and he added that concerns about drug use at the plant had been raised by employees before the search.

But Andrew Wyatt, the attorney representing the workers, said the company ``went way too far.''

``One of the biggest problems with this search is that there was no probable cause,'' Wyatt said.

He said no drugs were found on any employee, and an examination of 300 cars and trucks in the parking lot turned up small amounts of marijuana or drug paraphernalia in just three vehicles.

The owners of those three vehicles and two other employees, one of whom refused to submit to a search, were fired, Wyatt said.

Before the cars were searched, employees were first subjected to a pat-down, in which they were ordered to remove their shoes and socks and empty their pockets, Wyatt said. Employees, he said, were locked inside the brewery as the hours-long search continued.

Golper disputed the account and said employees were able to leave through a delivery entrance that was left open. ``No one was detained for substantial periods of time,'' he said.

Wyatt said the drug sweep appeared to have been designed to target workers who management considered undesirable.

``Some of the people singled out were considered dissidents. Some had filed workers compensation cases,'' he said. ``Most of the people on that list are senior employees.''

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Photo

Photo: Attorney Andrew Wyatt, representing brewery employee s, speaks at a Van Nuys news conference.

David Sprague/Daily News