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
Like saying, “It depends,” you can count on a lawyer blogging about cannabis and employment law to drop a marijuana pun in the title of the post. Continue reading
On Monday, I blogged here about an employee using CBD for her migraines who accused her employer of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. It fired her after she tested positive for marijuana on a drug test at work. One of my takeaways from the post was that particular state and local laws may raise the bar for terminating someone who uses medical or recreational marijuana outside of work.
Well, I’m going to assume that the City Council of Washington, D.C. read my blog and was helping me prove my point. Continue reading
Last night, I read this federal court opinion where a defendant, sued after firing a plaintiff who used CBD for her disability, got the entire case dismissed.
So, let’s talk about how and why. Continue reading
CommunistSquared, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Greetings from Seattle. Continue reading
Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay
A little Thursday lesson on the importance of consistency, precise language, and following your rules. Continue reading
Image by Please Don’t sell My Artwork AS IS from Pixabay
Last week, I read the news that Sha’Carri Richardson, one of the favorites to win Olympic gold for the United States in the women’s 100-meter dash, was suspended for a month for testing positive for marijuana. As a management-side employment lawyer, I’ll admit that my initial reaction was that she broke the rules and deserved the discipline associated with the infraction.
Then, I thought to myself, that is a really dumb rule. Continue reading
Image Credit: Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/en/marijuana-scales-legalization-drugs-2754249/)
It’s been a minute since I’ve gotten to blog about the Americans with Disabilities Act and accommodating an individual with a disability and a marijuana card who uses doctor-prescribed marijuana off the clock.
Better dust off the cannabis scales of justice for this one.
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