One court in New Jersey has enforced that provision to compel a mental health treatment provider to continue providing medical treatment. In the case of L.G. v. High Focus Centers, after the defendant informed the patient that it would stop providing intensive outpatient mental health treatments for his anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts because he had obtained his medical marijuana card, the Morris County Chancery court, relying on the clear protection in the CUMMA, issued an emergent temporary order compelling the facility to continue to provide the life sustaining treatments.
A former Amazon warehouse worker who sued the company after allegedly being fired over his use of medical marijuana is better positioned to win the case following a procedural ruling by a federal judge on Thursday.
Last year, the ex-employee filed the suit, alleging that he was terminated after testing positive for THC and subsequently requesting a disability accommodation for his anxiety disorder to allow him to use cannabis in accordance with state law. And last week, he scored a small but significant procedural victory.
This case has broad implications for the medical cannabis patient community, which is currently numbered at 71,492, many of whom are employed.
New Jersey’s top court said Tuesday that medical marijuana patients can’t be fired just for failing a drug test, handing a win to patients across the state including one man who says he was sacked from his job at a funeral home for using medical marijuana while off the clock.
When an Amazon employee in Edison with a medical cannabis card tried to inform his employer that he would fail a drug test due to his prescription, the company allegedly had him take it anyway and fired him for failing it, according to a suit filed in November. A funeral director in Linden was allegedly terminated in 2016 after his employer learned he was prescribed medical cannabis to treat cancer symptoms.
In the summer of 2018, Amazon allegedly administered a cheek swab drug test to a top-performing warehouse worker in Edison, New Jersey. The worker used medical cannabis to treat panic attacks, and the test results came back positive.
Medical cannabis is legal in the state of New Jersey. But even after providing the company with a doctor’s note, the worker was fired.
A lawsuit filed in Middlesex County by a former Amazon employee is the latest development highlighting an emerging disconnect in workplace law: the clash between companies that have zero-tolerance drug policies and the state’s recognition of marijuana as a legitimate medical remedy for a host of maladies.
A New Jersey man’s career with Amazon came to a sudden — and unfair — end once the online retail giant learned he used medical marijuana, a new lawsuit alleges.
Amazon AMZN, +0.08% fired the warehouse associate, who used marijuana to treat his panic and anxiety disorder, and also “blacklisted” him from other jobs with Amazon-owned companies including Whole Foods, court papers contend.
D.J.C. claims in the lawsuit that he was prescribed medical marijuana for anxiety and panic disorders, and that he had legally obtained a medical marijuana card. Use of medical marijuana to treat certain conditions has been legal in New Jersey since 2010.
The lawsuit, by a plaintiff identified as D.J.C., was filed in Middlesex County Superior Court in October and removed to federal court Friday. The Amazon filing comes just as the state Supreme Court is poised to take up the issue of medical marijuana in the workplace.
The justices announced in June that they will hear an appeal concerning the obligation of employers to accommodate medical marijuana use. The plaintiff in that case, a fired funeral home director, has asked the court to overturn a ruling finding employers are not obligated to accommodate medical marijuana usage.