New Jersey: Medical Marijuana Protected from Workplace Discrimination

In Wild v. Carriage Funeral Holdings, Inc., the New Jersey Court of Appeal stated that although the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act does not prohibit discrimination for use of medical marijuana, the Law Against Discrimination (LAD) may. There, an employee used medical marijuana as part of his cancer treatment. While driving for work, the employee was struck by another vehicle that ran a stop sign. Although the emergency room treating physician did not observe the employee to be under the influence and did not perform a blood test noting that the employee had a medical marijuana card, the employer required a blood test before the employee could return to work and ultimately terminated him.

The court stated that although the Compassionate Use Act does not require employers to accommodate the medical use of marijuana in the workplace, the LAD prohibits discrimination on the basis of a disability which may be treated by medical marijuana. Because the employee had cancer that was being treated in part with medical marijuana, his claims of discrimination under the LAD could proceed. Employers must take care to have employment decisions reviewed by legal counsel when employee disabilities are involved.