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Title: Colorado Supreme Court: Employers can fire for off-duty pot use
Source:
The Denver Post
URL Source: http://www.denverpost.com/marijuana ... ms-lower-court-rulings-medical
Published: Jun 15, 2015
Author: Alicia Wallace
Post Date: 2015-06-15 14:23:07 by cranky
Keywords: None
Views: 14195
Comments: 80
Lawyer for Dish Network employee fired after using medical pot to treat muscle spasms calls ruling "devastating". Brandon Coats, right, with his mother Donna Scharfenberg sitting by his side, Sept. 30, 2014. The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday affirmed lower courts' rulings that businesses can fire employees for the use of medical marijuana — even if it's off-duty. The 6-0 decision comes nine months after the state's highest court heard oral arguments in Brandon Coats' case against Dish Network. Coats, who had a medical marijuana card and consumed pot off-duty to control muscle spasms, was fired in 2010 after failing a random drug test. Coats challenged Dish's zero-tolerance drug policy, claiming that his use was legal under state law. The firing was upheld in both trial court and the Colorado Court of Appeals. DOCUMENT: Colorado Supreme Court affirms ruling When the case went to the state Supreme Court, legal observers said the case could have significant implications for employers across Colorado. They also noted that the ruling could be precedent-setting as Colorado and other states wrangle with adapting laws to a nascent industry that is illegal under federal law. As such, the question at hand is whether the use of medical marijuana — which is in compliance with Colorado's Medical Marijuana Amendment — is "lawful" under the state's Lawful Off-Duty Activities Statute. That term, the justices said, refers to activities lawful under both state and federal law. "Therefore, employees who engage in an activity, such as medical marijuana use, that is permitted by state law but unlawful under federal law are not protected by the statute," Justice Allison H. Eid wrote in the opinion. The justices said the court will not make a new law. Current Colorado law allows employers to set their own policies on drug use. Coats' attorney Michael Evans, of Centennial-based The Evans Group, called the decision "devastating." "For people like Brandon Coats, there really isn't a 'choice,' as MMJ is the only substance both he and his (Colorado-licensed) physicians know of to control his seizures due to his quadriplegia," Evans said. "He has to have it. " A silver lining of the decision, Evans said, is that it provides clarity in a "scary, gray area" of state law. "Today's decision means that until someone in the House or Senate champions the cause, most employees who work in a state with the world's most powerful MMJ laws will have to choose between using MMJ and work," Evans said in a statement. Six of the seven justices decided on the case. Justice Monica Marquez recused herself because her father, retired Senior Judge Jose D.L. Marquez, was on the Court of Appeals panel that upheld Coats' firing. Sam Kamin, a law professor at the University of Denver, said the justices' decision comes as no surprise. "It's easy to make too much of this decision," he said. "It really comes down to interpreting this one word in this one statute." As a matter of statutory interpretation, the court got it right, he said. But for Coats and medical marijuana advocates, this is a blow, Kamin said. Coats was a "dream plaintiff" in that marijuana served as medicine, he said. Coats was rendered a quadriplegic by a car accident and used marijuana to control leg spasms. The cause likely would land in the hands of the state legislature, Kamin said. "I think (Coats') case is very sympathetic, and I think his case would be quite compelling before the legislature," Kamin said. 
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 47.
#6. To: cranky, SOSO, liberator, CZ82, TooConservative (#0)
"Today's decision means that until someone in the House or Senate champions the cause, most employees who work in a state with the world's most powerful MMJ laws will have to choose between using MMJ and work," Evans said in a statement. Well like all of these stories there's more to it I'm sure. If CO has legalized medical pot for prescription use then the company must make that clear to its employees that they won't allow it. Think of it. A company which probably has several corporate locations throughout the country and has a zero tolerance drug policy cannot make exceptions for one state. The only ace in the hole for the defendant is if he went to the company with a doctor's note with the prescription in hand. Then the company would be on notice he is a medical user. The problem with this article is how the information is presented. Did this man notify his employers before using the medical pot? If no and he waited to test positive for pot then there is not much a company with a zero tolerance policy can do.
The writer asserts the court based its decision on existing Federal law not current Colorado state law.
Yes but did the employee come clean he was using medical pot? Apparently no. In the company I work in if someone self reports they get them help and don't fire them. If you wait until you are caught you are gone.
Does that apply to all legal substances or does your employer pick and choose what you can ingest on your own time?
It does. For they know people abuse even legal prescription drugs. The military hit this issue a few years ago and did a lot to clean it up. They kept giving wounded warriors pain meds at one facility then move them to another, and prescribe the same pain meds. So you have this wounded warrior with REAL physical pain with a drawer full of horse pills and some started to self medicate. Some got hooked and learned how to 'shop'. A couple of smart Army pharmacists brought this to the attention of medical authorities and a strict poly pharma program was introduced. Each medical center and military post increased their physical medicine and pain clinics and expanded physical therapy to enhance a more holistic approach to pain management other than just pumping them with prescription drugs. Some of these wounded warriors will have pain for life. Drugs of any kind are not the only and not the long term solution. So yes, my company looks at prescription drug abuse and can know from the initial drug screening and random checks they do. Two Soldiers I knew who would have life long pain to manage found that Tai Chi and yoga helps them. They told me the first step in leaving drug dependency is to stop making excuses and feeling sorry for themselves. There is a lot to be said about the right mental and spiritual mindset. We are not just physical 'beings.'
I was thinking more along the lines of tobacco, alcohol, guns (not to ingest, of course), etc. Back in the day when I cared about such things, some Texas companies refuse to hire or employ after the policy was adopted, any tobacco users (cigar, cigarette, snuff, chaw, et al). And it was legal to make such things a condition of employment.
In the Army no one is allowed to use any tobacco products inside installation buildings or in public places. Like most work places, there is a designated smoking/chew/chaw area. Well some corporations know the most time wasted at work are during smoke breaks and internet goof off time.
Actually, the reason given was insurance costs. Employers claimed they couldn't afford the premiums to cover the liabilities.
There are no replies to Comment # 47. End Trace Mode for Comment # 47.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestA silver lining of the decision, Evans said, is that it provides clarity in a "scary, gray area" of state law.
#15. To: redleghunter (#6)
The problem with this article is how the information is presented.
#23. To: cranky (#15)
#32. To: redleghunter (#23)
In the company I work in if someone self reports they get them help and don't fire them.
#37. To: cranky, CZ82, tomder55, sneakypete, liberator (#32)
Does that apply to all legal substances or does your employer pick and choose what you can ingest on your own time?
#43. To: redleghunter (#37)
(Edited)
It does. For they know people abuse even legal prescription drugs.
#44. To: cranky (#43)
Back in the day when I cared about such things, some Texas companies refuse to hire or employ after the policy was adopted, any tobacco users (cigar, cigarette, snuff, chaw, et al).
#47. To: redleghunter (#44)
Well some corporations know the most time wasted at work
Replies to Comment # 47.
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