KNOW THE LAWS ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA
Attorney Kamilah Perry, an expert and legal advisor on Florida’s labor and employment laws, says she’s not surprised by the administrator’s firing, given that medical marijuana users aren’t protected under any federal or state anti-discrimination laws. Any employer in Florida, private or public, is within its rights to terminate an employee who tests positive for using marijuana, even when it’s legally prescribed.
That lack of protection also means, Perry said, that “there's no remedy at all for a medical marijuana user” to legally challenge an employer’s termination decision.
NEW MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN THE WORKPLACE BILLS FILE
But all that could change if the Florida Legislature were to pass — and the governor signed — a bill that would extend workplace protections to medical marijuana patients. Two recently filed companion bills,
S.B. 962 and H.B. 335, offer some hope but only to public employees and job applicants seeking employment in the public sector.
Perry said she believes private employers in Florida are trying to accommodate employees being treated with medical marijuana as long as they don’t pose a risk to coworkers or themselves.
“A lot of employers. . . understand that medical marijuana is not the same as getting high on regular, on street level, marijuana; that it is a pain reliever. So, I think the attitudes are definitely changing,” she said.
Watch Attorney Kamilah Perry on MMERI’s Conversations on Cannabis Virtual Forum, where she gave more insight about Cannabis in the Workplace.
