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
Articles Posted in Drug Testing
Taxation without representation (and a new workplace marijuana law possibly coming soon).
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
Can an employee legally be fired for using over-the-counter CBD products?
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
A federal judge made it really dang hard to prove medical marijuana discrimination

CommunistSquared, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Greetings from Seattle. Continue reading
Imagine testing positive for cocaine at work … and getting to keep your job?!?

Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay
A little Thursday lesson on the importance of consistency, precise language, and following your rules. Continue reading
An employment lawyer’s take on track star Sha’Carri Richardson’s suspension for using marijuana

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
Yet another court reaffirms that the ADA does not require accommodating marijuana use

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.
TRENDING: Cities and states banning pre-hire marijuana testing. Next up: Philadelphia
As more states and localities legalize or decriminalize the use of recreational marijuana, the next logical step is to preclude employers from testing for marijuana use as a condition of employment.
Why? It comes does to dollars and cents. Or, perhaps, common sense. Continue reading
The federal government seems much less uptight now about employees that have used marijuana

elsaolofsson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons and Cannabis News
No, today isn’t “Bring Your Bong To Work” Day. That’s tomorrow.
But the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is finally conceding in this memo that marijuana use may not be a concern when considering the suitability or fitness of an individual working in the federal government. Continue reading