We have been tracking the hazardous effort to integrate medical marijuana into the workplace. It’s not an easy fit. The burden falls on legislators, who write the laws, and on judges, who interpret these laws. The testing ground is often California, where fantasy and reality are so intertwined, it’s getting more and more difficult to separate them.
We read in WorkCompCentral (subscription required) that a state senator named Mark Leno (any relation to Jay?) has introduced a bill to clarify the rights of medical marijuana users in the workplace. Senate Bill 129 gives workers a right to “damages, injunctive relief, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs…” if employment decisions are based upon their medical use of marijuana. Then Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill in 2008. Senator Leno is guessing he might have better luck with Governor Brown (AKA Governor Moonbeam).
Joe Elford, chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access, believes that legislation in necessary in order to assure equal rights for medical marijuana users who are not technically disabled: employers have an obligation to accommodate the disabled, but they may not view others the same way. “Under SB 129 you don’t have to be disabled, you simply have to be a medical marijuana patient.”
He goes on to say that Proposition 215 was not intended just for the unemployed: its protections must include workers in the workplace.
Ah, there’s the rub. How do you draw the line between drug free workplaces and medically approved use of marijuana (and, for that matter, opiates and other pain killers)?
Locked Out, Tagged Out, Zoned Out
SB 129 tries to have it both ways. On the one hand, it states: “Nothing in this article shall require any accommodation of any medical use of marijuana on the property or premises of any place of employment or during the hours of employment.” Any employee who is under the influence of marijuana at work can be terminated.
On the other hand, the bill tries to protect the rights of at least some employees at work who might in fact be somewhat impaired by their use of pot. While the bill does not provide protection for workers in “safety sensitive” positions, it does protect everyone else. It defines “safety sensitive” as “a job that has greater than normal level of trust, responsibility for or impact on the health and safety of others or where errors in judgment, inattentiveness or diminished coordination could put others in danger.”
Hmm, what have these guys been smoking? How many jobs can you think of where “errors in judgment, inattentiveness or diminished coordination” would not be a serious if not immediate problem? Would this legislation actually protect employers from “negligent retention” claims where their (somewhat) stoned workers make marijuana-induced mistakes? “Sure, he messed up the calculation of your benefits. But you’ll have to cut him some slack. He was on (medically approved) medication.”
I have the greatest sympathy for legislators struggling to balance the rights of workers in need of specific medications with the rights of everyone else. But in this case, they appear to be straddling the Grand Canyon. Is there any job where inattentiveness and diminished coordination would be acceptable? Consulting? Actuaries? (just kidding). I would suggest that the legislators create a specific list of any such jobs. That would make for interesting hearings, at the very least, and the applications for these positions would increase exponentially.
You have a problem with how I’m doing my job? Dude, I’m locked out. Try me a little later.
Tags: California, medical marijuana
