Our colleague NJ Supreme Court Rules That the LAD Protects Registered Medical Cannabis Users.
Following is an excerpt:
On March 10, 2020 the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”), employees who legally use cannabis as permitted by the state’s Compassionate Use of Cannabis of Medical Marijuana Act[i] (“Compassionate Use Act”) may not be fired because they use medical cannabis and that such employees are entitled to reasonable accommodation. In a brief opinion, the Court substantially adopted the Appellate Division’s reasoning in Wild v. Carriage House Funeral Holdings, Inc., about which we previously wrote.
Wild was employed by Carriage House Funeral Home as a licensed funeral home director. While working a funeral, a vehicle he was driving was hit by a driver who allegedly ran a stop sign. Following the accident, Wild was taken to the hospital, but was not administered a drug test because he told the Emergency Room doctor about his license to possess medical marijuana and the physician told him that therefore no test was required because the results would be positive. Wild had not previously told his employer of his use of medical marijuana and after learning of it, Carriage House terminated his employment. …