A U.S. District Court judge recently dismissed a suit by an employee, who uses medical marijuana, against a New Jersey business. The employee, citing the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, sued after the company wouldn’t allow him to return to his job unless he submitted to breathalyzer and urine screenings. What is the takeaway of that ruling for employers?
“Expect employers in New Jersey to continue to take adverse employment action against those who test positive for the drug, if they maintain a substance abuse policy dictating this result,” says Keya C. Denner, chair of Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, P.A.’s Cannabis Law Group.
Daniel Cotto Jr. of Bridgeton had sued Ardagh Glass, claiming that after he was injured on the job as a forklift operator and began using medical marijuana under a doctor’s order, he was told by an Ardagh representative he couldn’t return unless he passed a drug test. Cotto claimed he was told by a company human resources official his medical marijuana use was a “problem.”