Federal Judge in Pennsylvania Reverses Dismissal of Medical Marijuana Cardholder’s Disability Discrimination Claim
On April 11, 2025, a federal judge for the U.S. Western District of Pennsylvania reversed his recent decision to dismiss a disability discrimination claim from a job applicant with a medical marijuana card who alleged he had a job offer rescinded following a pre-employment drug screen. Quick Hits While considering a motion to certify an […]
Complying With the ADA When Managing Employees With Alcoholism
Employers sometimes encounter intoxicated employees at work, but there are some compliance challenges under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when managing employees with alcoholism. Quick Hits The National Institutes of Health defines alcohol use disorder as “a medical condition characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, […]
Florida Court Rules That the Florida Constitution Required a Public Employer to Accommodate Off-Duty Medical Marijuana Use
A Florida state court recently held that an employer violated the Florida Civil Rights Act by failing to accommodate an employee’s off-duty, off-site medical marijuana use to treat his disabilities. The court granted summary judgment in favor of the former employee, whom the employer had placed on unpaid administrative leave after he tested positive for […]
Third Circuit Rules New Jersey Marijuana Law Lacks Private Right of Action to Enforce Employment Protections
A federal appellate court has ruled that a New Jersey law regulating recreational marijuana use does not grant job applicants the right to sue employers that rescind job offers after positive pre-employment drug tests for marijuana. The court found that the law does not provide a private right of action to enforce its employment protections. […]
Nebraska Says Yes to Marijuana Measure, but Florida, North Dakota, and South Dakota Just Say No
Efforts to legalize marijuana failed in three states and succeeded in one state on November 5, 2024. Quick Hits On November 5, 2024, voters in Nebraska approved a ballot measure to legalize medical marijuana use, while voters in Florida, North Dakota, and South Dakota rejected measures to legalize recreational marijuana use. Voters in Massachusetts rejected […]
DOJ Plans to Reclassify Marijuana From Schedule I to Lower-Risk Schedule III Drug
On April 30, 2024, following a months-long process, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) circulated a proposal to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance. This historic move—likely the most substantial change to federal drug policy in more than fifty years—would place marijuana amongst the likes of acetaminophen with codeine, […]
Weed at Work: Can Georgia Employers Still Drug Test?
Across the United States, a broad legal spectrum has developed regarding the use of marijuana, thus creating great uncertainty among employers that have long striven to maintain drug-free workplaces. Federally, marijuana still is classified as a prohibited Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substance Act. In recent years, many states have decriminalized marijuana, some limiting […]
Medical Marijuana Usage Is Not Protected Under the ADA, Vermont Federal Court Rules
On February 14, 2024, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont dismissed a plaintiff’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) discrimination and failure-to-accommodate case, holding that his medical marijuana usage was not protected under the ADA (Skoric v. Marble Valley Regional Transit District). Quick Hits A federal district judge in Vermont […]
Ohio Becomes 24th State to Legalize Recreational Use of Marijuana: 7 Key Considerations for Employers
On November 7, 2023, Ohio voters made Ohio the twenty-fourth state in the United States to legalize the recreational possession and use of marijuana. Ohio Revised Code (R.C.) Section 3780, which is subject to amendment by the Ohio General Assembly, will go into effect on December 7, 2023, but it will take months to establish […]
Stocking Naloxone in the Workplace: What Employers Need to Consider
It is well known that opioid overdoses have occurred at epidemic levels in the United States for years. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), opioid overdose deaths have increased from 21,089 in 2010, to 47,600 in 2017, to more than 80,000 in 2021 and 2022. As the number of deaths has […]
California Expands Marijuana Employment Antidiscrimination Law
On October 7, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) No. 700 into law, expanding California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act to protect applicants from discrimination based on prior cannabis use, with certain exceptions. The amendment takes effect on January 1, 2024. Quick Hits SB 700 amends California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act to prohibit […]
Right-to-Weed States: Assessing Impairment and Managing Employee Conduct in the Workplace
On May 9, 2023, the Washington state governor signed a law that will make it unlawful for employers to discriminate against hiring a person based on their marijuana usage, making Washington the latest state to become a right-to-weed state. With medical and recreational marijuana legalization spreading, a growing number of states are further implementing protections for […]
