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February 15, 2011
Federal Court
Upholds Employer's Right to Terminate Employee Who Used Medical
Marijuana
By: Kurt M. Graham
In Casias v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the U.S.
District Court for the Western District of Michigan held that the
Michigan Medical Marijuana Act (MMMA) does not prohibit an employer
from terminating an employee who uses medical marijuana. In
doing so, the Court dismissed a wrongful discharge lawsuit filed by a
former Wal-Mart employee who was terminated by Wal-Mart after he
tested positive for marijuana during a drug test. The employee,
who admitted to using marijuana after work for medical purposes,
claimed that enactment of the MMMA created a new public policy in the
State of Michigan that prohibits employers from taking disciplinary
action against an employee based upon conduct protected from criminal
prosecution under the MMMA. Wal-Mart argued that the employee
was properly terminated since its corporate drug use policy required
termination of any employee who tested positive for marijuana (an
illegal drug under federal law) and that its policy contained no
exception for medical marijuana usage.
In dismissing
the lawsuit, the Court concluded:
The MMMA [is] meant to provide some limited
protection for medical marijuana users from state actions, primarily
arrest and prosecution. Even the scope of that protection is
unclear and limited. . . . Nothing in the language or the purpose of
the MMMA indicates an intent of the Michigan voters to regulate
private employment, and the MMMA does not address private employment
directly. Whatever protection the MMMA does provide users of
medical marijuana, it does not reach to private employment.
The
Court's decision is the first in Michigan address the issue of
whether the MMMA overrides employment policies that ban the usage of
marijuana and provides much needed clarification with respect to
whether an employer may take disciplinary action against an employee
based upon an employee's medical marijuana usage. Although the
Court's decision is a positive one for Michigan employers, the ACLU,
who is handling the case on behalf of the discharged employee, has
already indicated it will appeal the decision to a federal appeals
court. A decision from the appeals court will likely take a
year or two.
If you have any questions about the Court's decision or
about drafting, or enforcing a drug usage policy for your workplace,
please contact Kurt Graham at (616) 608-1144 or kgraham@clarkhill.com or
another member of Clark Hill's Labor and Employment Practice
Group
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