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.
D.J.C., who worked at the Amazon warehouse in Edison, was prescribed medical marijuana for anxiety and panic disorder. He was ordered to take to a drug test in July 2018, and was notified a month later he was being fired for testing positive, the suit says. When he told company representatives that he was a participant in the state’s medical marijuana program, he was told he was being placed on paid leave, according to court papers. He was asked to submit paperwork to request an accommodation but was then told he was terminated for failing to notify the company he was a medical marijuana user, the suit says.
D.J.C. is represented by Walter Dana Venneman of Gill & Chamas in Woodbridge. Amazon’s lawyer is August Heckman III of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.
D.J.C.’s suit says Amazon has a policy of considering rehiring terminated employees after 120 days, even those who are fired for failing drug tests, but he was “blacklisted” by the company and could not get hired at Whole Foods, which is owned by Amazon. His suit seeks to enjoin Amazon from further discriminatory acts as well as reinstatement, compensatory and punitive damages, attorney fees and costs.