Turns out a medical marijuana card can’t cure everything—especially if what you’ve got is a bad case of ADA expectations. Here’s a lesson in what happens when federal law refuses to roll with the times. Continue reading
If The Dude from The Big Lebowski applied for a job today—with a medical marijuana card in hand and nothing but good vibes—what legal rights would he actually have? A recent federal court decision from Pennsylvania offers a reality check for employers navigating job offers, drug tests, and lawful cannabis use. Continue reading
Think you can sue your employer for not hiring you because you tested positive for cannabis? Think again. The Third Circuit just made it clear that New Jersey’s recreational marijuana law does not provide job applicants with a private cause of action. Continue reading
Yesterday, I wrote about how the DEA’s move to ease restrictions on marijuana would change the ADA landscape for employers by requiring accommodations for employees with disabilities who use medical cannabis to treat.
For now, however, marijuana remains a Schedule One drug. So, the Americans with Disabilities Act does not protect individuals with actual disabilities who lose their jobs for testing positive because the ADA does not protect individuals engaging in “the illegal use of drugs” within the meaning of the statute.
But what if the employee does not have an actual disability? Continue reading
Last week, the Associated Press reported that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration would move to reclassify marijuana (cannabis), moving it from Schedule I, where it’s currently listed with heroin and LSD, to Schedule III, with as less dangerous doctor-prescribed drugs like (Tylenol with codeine) and testosterone. Continue reading
Right or wrong, an honest belief may be all it takes to proffer a nondiscriminatory reason for an adverse employment action. Continue reading
Tomorrow, I’ll be presenting “Weeding through the Haze: State and Federal Marijuana Laws and Implications” at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s 2023 EXCEL Training Conference in Washington, DC.
Between now and then, I’ll need to update my slide deck. Continue reading
The Americans with Disabilities Act does not protect employee use of illegal drugs. It does not prevent employers from testing applicants or employees for current illegal drug use or making employment decisions based on verifiable results. However, the ADA would protect an employee with a disability who fails a drug test if the employer bases its termination decision on the underlying disability rather than the test result.
But here’s the thing. Continue reading
The EEOC has guided employers to accommodate employee use of certain prescribed medications, and excuse failed drug tests that reflect the presence of those drugs — if it is done safely — because those individuals who test positive likely have an underlying disability.
But, when employee self-medicate — like with CBDs for stress and anxiety — not only is there no duty to accommodate, the employee may not be able to establish an underlying disability. Continue reading
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