The federal government's failure to recognize states' rights will push medical marijuana users into unemployment.
(SACRAMENTO) - A top California court says employee can be fired for their legal use of medical marijuana and they can't sue their employer for unlawful discrimination under California law.
The employment versus medical pot situation is at issue in Oregon as well, but a state legislative committee that met this week will not make any decisions on the matter until at least February.
Today the California Supreme Court ruled 5-2 to uphold a lower-court decision that Gary Ross, plaintiff in the case, can not sue his employer, Ragingwire Telecommunications Inc., for firing him over off-duty medicinal smoking.
According to Bloomberg, Justice Kathryn M. Werdegar, who wrote for the majority, stated that California's voter-approved Compassionate Use Act of 1996, the law that allows medical marijuana use recommended by a physician, does not govern the "respective rights and duties of employers and employees."
The plaintiff in the California case is a U.S. military veteran and the injury that his physician believes marijuana would treat was sustained while Ross was in the service.
His lawsuit claimed that his dismissal amounted to disability-based discrimination and a wrongful firing in violation of public policy. He was caught in a standard company drug test administered to new employees.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Joyce Kennard wrote in her dissenting opinion, "The majority has seriously compromised the Compassionate Use Act, denying to those who must work for a living its promised benefits" in treating cancer, AIDS, chronic pain and other medical conditions, Bloomberg reported. But Kinnard agreed with the majority that Ross had no public policy-based claim because federal law makes marijuana possession and use illegal.
Court Says California Employers Can Fire Employees and Avoid Lawsuits Over Medical MarijuanaSalem-News.com