Michigan Employees Can Still Get Fired for Smoking Cannabis
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]T[/dropcap]here is a possibility for the Michigan Court of Appeals to reinforce a zero tolerance workplace policy against the use of cannabis, regardless of whether or not the person has a valid medical card, the court ruling this Tuesday.
It all started with a lawsuit filed by Angela Eplee against the Lansing Board of Water and Light that, according to her claim, cancelled her job offer after she tested positive for cannabis even though she had a medical cannabis card. The trial court agreed with the board that “the needs of the department” dictated the decision rather than her testing positive, and dismissed the case before it went to trial. That decision was upheld by the Court of Appeals.
In the opinion published Tuesday, the three-judge panel said, the “plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that she had any right or property interest of any manner in employment with the BWL. Plaintiff has also failed to demonstrate that there was any prohibition—statutory or otherwise—on the BWL’s ability to withdraw, for any or no reason at all, its conditional offer of employment.”
The Court of Appeals also ruled earlier that “the statute does not provide an independent right protecting the medical use of marijuana in all circumstances, nor does it create a protected class for users of medical marijuana.”
Eplee’s attorney Brandon Gardner responded, saying “There was no discovery in this case. The city and BWL filed a motion for summary disposition in lieu of filing an answer to the initial complaint. I’m not really sure if the Court of Appeals had enough facts to make the legal determination that they did.”
The ballot proposal legalizing recreational does point out that “this act does not require an employer to permit or accommodate conduct otherwise allowed by this act in any workplace or on the employer’s property. This act does not prohibit an employer from disciplining an employee for violation of a workplace drug policy or for working while under the influence of marijuana. This act does not prevent an employer from refusing to hire, discharging, disciplining, or otherwise taking an adverse employment action against a person with respect to hire, tenure, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of that person’s violation of a workplace drug policy or because that person was working while under the influence of marijuana.”
On a different note, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in 2014 that an employer cannot disqualify a person from receiving unemployment benefits if the person tests positive for cannabis, provided the person holds a valid medical card. That employee can be disqualified from receiving benefits only if the person uses cannabis or is under the influence at work or can’t demonstrate that he or she is a medical cannabis patient.
