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Employee Rights State Labor Laws Medical Marijuana

Most countries provide some degree of workplace protection for employees and job applicants. Depending on the jurisdiction, these protections generally include safety precautions and policies, anti-discrimination... more +
Most countries provide some degree of workplace protection for employees and job applicants. Depending on the jurisdiction, these protections generally include safety precautions and policies, anti-discrimination policies, collective bargaining and unionizing rights, meal and rest requirements, minimum wage rules, and medical and family leave rights to name a few. In the United States, the federal framework for employee rights stem from statutes such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). In addition, employee rights statutes are implemented and enforced by regulatory authorities such as the EEOC, NLRB, OSHA, and the Department of Labor. Further, many state and local governments provide additional and localized protections for employees that are enforced by local regulatory entities. less -
Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Card-Holder Survives Employer’s Motion to Dismiss

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A recent opinion from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania serves a win to a medical marijuana card-holder who brought claims against an employer under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), the Pennsylvania Medical...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Federal Judge in Pennsylvania Reverses Dismissal of Medical Marijuana Cardholder’s Disability Discrimination Claim

On April 11, 2025, a federal judge for the U.S. Western District of Pennsylvania reversed his recent decision to dismiss a disability discrimination claim from a job applicant with a medical marijuana card who alleged he had...more

Snell & Wilmer

Toking the Line: Where Medical Marijuana Meets Employment Law

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The use of cannabis for medical purposes is legal in 39 states, four out of five permanently inhabited U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. Some studies suggest that medical cannabis may help treat various...more

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace

Florida HR Considerations: Marijuana in the Workplace

First, a recent circuit court decision (which is now on appeal) held that the Florida Civil Rights Act (FCRA) requires employers to consider reasonable accommodations for off-duty medical marijuana use. In Giambrone v....more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

The Best of Intentions: State Law Protections for Employee Cannabis Use May Not Protect Them After All

While not enough blogs these days quote Toad the Wet Sprocket lyrics, a recent decision from a federal appellate court holding that a would-be employee can suffer negative employment consequences for cannabis use even when...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Drug Test Woes: State Law Protections for Employee Cannabis Use May Not Protect Them After All

The changing landscape of the cannabis industry is keeping employers on their toes nationwide. As more and more states expand the legalization of cannabis products, we are also seeing a trend in the cannabis statutes for...more

Epstein Becker & Green

Court Clarifies Employers’ Rights Under Connecticut’s Palliative Use of Marijuana Act, Guidance on Drug Testing

Epstein Becker & Green on

In a recent decision affirming summary judgment in favor of defendant Human Resources Agency of New Britain, Inc. (the “Agency”), the Connecticut Appellate Court (decision.pdf) provided employers with useful guidance about...more

Littler

California to Protect Off-Work Use of Marijuana, Set Testing Parameters for Measuring Workplace Impairment

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Last month, the California Legislature voted to join what it refers to as “the movement to legalize and regulate the non-medical use of cannabis” across the United States, including offering employment protection for such...more

Littler

Nevada Supreme Court Affirms Termination for Off-Duty Recreational Marijuana Use

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Ending years of discussion about the scope of state law employment protections for individuals who use marijuana recreationally, the Nevada Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s decision to dismiss a complaint by an...more

Pullman & Comley - Labor, Employment and...

Keep Off the Grass: A Reminder That Employers Must Address the Implications of Connecticut’s Legalization of Recreational Cannabis...

Beginning July 1, 2022, Connecticut’s law legalizing the recreational use of cannabis for adults 21 and over imposes new restrictions on employers while offering protections for employees who indulge. While that might sound...more

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace

New York Department of Labor Issues Guidance on Cannabis and the Workplace

The New York State Department of Labor (“NYDOL”) has issued FAQ guidance addressing common questions regarding recreational cannabis use by employees in and outside of the workplace in light of the enactment earlier this year...more

Akerman LLP - HR Defense

Weed and the Workplace: Recent Developments in New York, Virginia, and Colorado

Employers take note: recently New York became the 15th state to legalize recreational marijuana use through Senate Bill 854A, and Virginia is not far behind. ...more

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

New York State Addresses a Chronic Issue: Employees Granted Protections for Off-Duty Cannabis Use

On March 31, 2021, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), legalizing the recreational use of cannabis in New York State for individuals age 21 or older. ...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

New York Employers: Engage In The Interactive Dialogue With Medical Marijuana Users

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

A New York state court denied summary judgment to an employer that terminated an employee for testing positive for marijuana, when the employee obtained a medical marijuana certification prior to the termination decision....more

Littler

NJ Supreme Court Holds Medical Marijuana Use Outside of the Workplace is Protected Under State Law and Employers are Required to...

Littler on

Resolving prior uncertainty regarding the impact of the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act (CUMMA) on employees’ employment rights, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently held that employees can maintain an...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Employment Flash - February 2020

This edition of Employment Flash looks at recent NLRB activity, including its decision (overruling an Obama-era decision) regarding confidentiality rules for employees during ongoing workplace investigations. We also discuss...more

McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC

Medical Marijuana Musings (Two Years Later)

Two years ago, the first medical marijuana dispensary opened in Pennsylvania. Since that time, well over a hundred thousand Pennsylvania residents have become certified to use medical marijuana, additional conditions were...more

Rumberger | Kirk

Medical Marijuana Employee Protection Act: What the Future Could Hold for Florida

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With the passing of the 2016 constitutional amendment and the Legislature’s enacting of statutes implementing the voters’ will, hundreds of thousands of Floridians have become lawful medical marijuana users. Originally...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act at Issue in Recently Filed Complaint

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In 2016, Pennsylvania enacted its “Medical Marijuana Act” (MMA), which permits individuals suffering from certain conditions to use marijuana for medicinal use. Several provisions in the MMA impact employers. For instance,...more

Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC

Drugs & Partying: What Contractors Need to Know About Medical Marijuana and Office Parties

In this webinar, Jonathan Landesman and Anthony Bottenfield discuss two timely topics that construction-industry employers must be aware of and provide practical tips for employers for closing out the year without conflict. ...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Florida Senator Introduces Bill Providing Broad Employment Protections to Medical Marijuana Users

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On November 18, 2019, Florida Senator Lori Berman (D) introduced Senate Bill 962, which proposes to provide job applicants and employees who use medical marijuana various protections in employment....more

Rumberger | Kirk

Medical Marijuana in the Workplace: What's Next?

Rumberger | Kirk on

In 2016, Florida voters soundly passed Amendment 2, Florida’s medical marijuana law, with over 71% of the vote. Since then, two bills have been passed implementing the law, there was one high-profile lawsuit targeting the...more

FordHarrison

Recent Progression in the Legalization of Marijuana has left Employers Dazed and Confused

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In the last year, a record number of states have amended or enacted laws which regulate marijuana testing, accommodations, and use. Among these states, at least two states have specifically banned pre-employment testing of...more

Littler

New Jersey Medical Marijuana Amendments Expand Employment Protections

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New Jersey has expanded its medical marijuana program and—for the first time since the state enacted the law—adopted formal protections for employees and job applicants who use what is now called “medical cannabis.” ...more

McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC

New Jersey Expands its Medical Cannabis Act to Include Workplace Protections

Prior to July 2nd, New Jersey’s Medical Cannabis Act lacked protections for employees’ off-duty medical marijuana use.  Indeed, last year the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey held that nothing in the Medical...more

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