Washington Supreme Court Rejects Appeal of Medical Marijuana Ruling:
— Employers are Not Obligated to Accommodate Users
By Barran Liebman
Oregon law firm
In an opinion issued this morning, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that the state’s medical marijuana law “does not prohibit an employer from discharging an employee for medical marijuana use,” nor does the state’s 1998 law provide a civil remedy against the employer. The court also concluded that the state law “also does not proclaim a sufficient public policy to give rise to a tort action for wrongful termination for authorized use of medical marijuana.”
Eight of nine justices signed the majority opinion in Roe v. Teletech Customer Care Management Co., rejecting an appeal by an employee who was terminated after she tested positive for use of the drug, which she had obtained and was using under the state’s 1998 law. Washington employers who are interested in the court’s careful reasoning can read the opinion, and the dissent, on the court’s website at http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions.
Read a decision about medical marijuana in Oregon by clicking here
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