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The New Jersey Appellate Division recently held that an employee could bring a cause of action against an employer under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) when he or she uses medical marijuana and is not attempting to use it at the workplace. The court found that this is not in conflict with the state’s Compassionate Use Act mandate that employers do not need to accommodate medical marijuana users in the workplace.   Wild v. Carriage Funeral Holdings, Inc. The court looked at the legislative intent and found that while there was no intent to expand employee’s rights, there was also no intent to destroy any rights already available under the LAD.  In this case, the employee was not seeking to use marijuana at work.  Rather, he sought for his employer to accommodate his legal use of medical marijuana outside of his job. New Jersey employers should revisit their drug free work policies and ensure they are in compliance with the New Jersey Law Agai...

In June, we reported that recreational marijuana will be legal in Illinois at  Hire Image , effective January 1, 2020. Under the law, called the Legalization Act, employers may still require a drug free workplace and may still prohibit employees from being under the influence of marijuana in the workplace or while on call.  The law also specifically mentioned the right of employers to discipline or terminate an employee who violates the workplace drug policy. While the law was clear in some instances, it also created some ambiguity in terms of causes of action, potentially increasing exposure for Illinois employers who test for marijuana and act on a positive test result.  As such, the Governor recently signed amendments to the Legalization Act into law.  Those amendments provide, in part: “Nothing in this Act shall be construed to create or imply a cause of action for any person against an employer for:                ...

Hire Image  will host a free webinar:  Is Your Drug-Free Workplace Going Up in Smoke? Hire Image ’s CEO, Christine Cunneen and Sarah R. Skubas, Principal at Jackson Lewis P.C will discuss  safe workplace practices in order to protect employees, customers and property. There is also little doubt that a large contributing factor to a safe workplace is a drug-free work policy.  However, when marijuana is now legal (in some form) in over 50% of the states, how do they go about implementing one?  With each new law seems to come a new question for employers. What are my rights as an employer?  Am I allowed to drug test all of my candidates and current employees?  Do I need a new Drug-Free Work Policy?  Should I change my drug testing program?  The questions are endless.  To further complicate matters, recent court rulings, including those involving federal contractors, are interpreting the various laws with varied opinions. Get the ...