A fired worker is testing New Jersey’s state’s cannabis law by suing his former employer, alleging he was wrongfully terminated for marijuana use days after the state legalized the drug.
New Jersey’s top court ruled last year that employers cannot fire medical marijuana patients who use cannabis in their free time. The new marijuana legalization law will extend these protections to those 21 and older, but whether or not that provision applies to workers now has been debated.
Jamal Campbell filed his lawsuit against the refinery company, Watco Companies and Watco Transloading LLC, in U.S. District Court in April claiming the firm violated New Jersey’s medical cannabis law and state anti-discrimination laws.
According to the lawsuit outlined by NJ.com, Campbell injured his back on the job in 2016 and became a medical cannabis patient in 2018 for pain related to a bulging disc. The lawsuit contends that Campbell never used cannabis at work or came into work under the influence.
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.
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.
CCF applied for a stay of the process last year, too, after filing an objection appeal against the state which it contends “ignored a clear statutory mandate” and “flip-flopped on a prior standard it previously argued was ‘integral’ to the success of the medical marijuana program” – geographic diversity – by permitting MPX to locate their dispensary at 118 St. James Place in Atlantic City.
The New Jersey Department of Health’s decisions don’t explain why it would neglect to follow a statutory mandate or divert from prior policy, CCF contends.
Two recent developments may lead to New Jersey employers being required to reimburse the cost of medical marijuana for workers’ compensation recipients. In a case of first impression, New Jersey’s Appellate Division, in Vincent Hager v. M&K Construction, affirmed a July 2018 order handed down by a workers’ compensation judge requiring an employer to reimburse the cost of medical marijuana used to treat pain resulting from a workplace injury.
In November, we wrote about a lawsuit filed against Amazon by a New Jersey man claiming he was wrongfully terminated due to a failed marijuana drug test despite being a patient in the state’s medical marijuana program. Now, New Jersey state lawmakers have advanced a bill that would require workers’ compensation to cover medical marijuana.
The employer argued that the workers’ compensation order to reimburse Hager for his medical marijuana violated the federal Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”)[1], which criminalizes the possession, manufacture, or distribution of marijuana and therefore preempts New Jersey’s Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act (“Jake Honig Act”).[2] The employer further argued that the order required it to aid and abet the employee’s illegal use and possession of marijuana in violation of the CSA.