Image Credit: Pixabay.com It’s been a while since we addressed the legalization of medical marijuana in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and what that means for employers. It was about two years ago to be precise. Last October, I presented on this topic at the SHRM Lehigh Valley “annual” October Conference. …
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Three key areas that could make 2018 the year of the employee handbook overhaul
Read on, HR enthusiasts. 1. Paid Family and Medical Leave. A few weeks ago, I wrote here about a SHRM-endorsed paid-employee-leave bill that was introduced in House. Yesterday, over at Bloomberg Law, Tyrone Richardson reported here that as the House and Senate work on finalizing a tax bill, another paid leave option…
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A recreational marijuana user was blowin’ hella smoke with these FMLA arguments.
Remember that scene in Animal House, the one where Donald Sutherland is sitting around with Katy and the some of the Deltas, smoking pot and discussing solar systems and atoms on the fingernail of a giant being? I kinda had that feeling as I read this recent opinion in…
Another court greenlights a medicinal marijuana user’s lawsuit against his former employer
This may not be Magic vs. Bird or Biggie vs. Tupac. Those battles are too close to call. But, if I were to ask you which side of the country, east coast or west coast, would offer greater judicial support for the employment rights of medicinal-marijuana cardholders, you’d say west…
What would you like to know about the law on employee use of medicinal marijuana?
Last month, the Massachusetts Supreme Court held (here) that a local employer may have a duty to accommodate an employee’s use of medicinal marijuana. You can read more about that decision at Jon Hyman’s Ohio Employer’s Law Blog. Wait, what? If marijuana is still considered an illegal drug under federal law —…
“I get high with a little help from my friends”
The Beatles lyric is also the opening line from a recent state court opinion about hiring (or not hiring as the case may be) someone who uses medical marijuana. More on that in a bit. But first, the title of this post may serve a dual purpose. That is, maybe it…
Medical Marijuana is coming to PA. What do employers need to know?
Pennsylvania is about to become the second Commonwealth in the United States to legalize medical marijuana. (23 states — la di da, states — plus DC currently allow it) Does this mean that employees with migraines can puff vape pens and eat Cheetos in your break rooms at work? Actually, I’m pretty…
When must companies accommodate employee medical marijuana use? How about never?
I’ve blogged (here) that grilling a medical marijuana user about her disability, just before firing the employee, could give rise to a viable disability-discrimination claim. In other words, where the disability (as opposed to the medical marijuana use) motivates the employment action, that’s discrimination. I’ve blogged before (here) that the Americans with…
Under the ADA, can you fire an alcoholic who doesn’t request treatment?
An alcoholic employee can present a number of tricky legal issues affecting the workplace. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, there’s a certain dichotomy. That is, alcoholism is a disability under the Act. However, an employer can ban alcohol in the workplace and require that employees not be under the…