Labor & Employment

Medical Pot Law Doesn't Protect Fired Wal-Mart Worker, 6th Circuit Rules

  •  
  •  
  •  
  • Print

image

Image from Shutterstock.

A federal appeals court has ruled for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in the case of a worker who claimed he should not have been fired for using medical marijuana.

The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Michigan’s medical marijuana law does not protect Joseph Casias, who was fired after he failed a drug test, report MLive.com and the Battle Creek Enquirer. Casias has an inoperable brain tumor and sinus cancer.

The medical pot law does not protect workers in a private employment setting, the court said in a Sept. 19 opinion (PDF). At issue was a statute that said patients who comply with the law should not be subject to disciplinary action “by a business or occupational or professional licensing board or bureau.”

The court said the word “business” describes the type of licensing board or bureau, and is not a stand-alone term.

Give us feedback, share a story tip or update, or report an error.