TRENTON, NJ — Employers may not discriminate against medical marijuana patients who consume cannabis while away from the job, according to a state Appellate Court decision.
The Appellate Court’s decision reverses a lower court opinion.
While the Court opined that employers are not required to accommodate the use of medical cannabis by patients “in any workplace,” the justices also acknowledged that the plaintiff’s marijuana use, in this case, took place solely during off-work hours. “[T]he Compassionate Use Act’s refusal to require an employment accommodation for a user does not mean that the Compassionate Use Act has immunized employers from obligations already imposed elsewhere,” the Court determined, explicitly citing New Jersey’s laws against discrimination.
The case is Wild v. Carriage Funeral Holdings LLC.
Courts in a number of other medical cannabis access states, including Arizona, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, have recently issued similar rulings affording workplace protections for qualified patients.
Tags: discrimination, employment, Job Discrimination, New Jersey, New Jersey medical marijuana, Wild v. Carriage Funeral Holdings LLC
