Trial lawyers specializing in personal injury and civil litigation
Federal Court rules Wal Mart can fire employee for using medical marijuana
This week a divided panel of the Federal Sixth Circuit upheld Wal-Mart's discharge of Joseph Casias. Casias had argued that the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act made it illegal for his employer to discharge an employee for the legal use of the drug. The majority ruled that the statutory language, "[a] qualifying patient" is not to be penalized or disciplined by a "business or occupational or professional licensing board or bureau" did not apply to private employers. The two judges in the majority held that "business" was not a stand-alone term, and instead was merely one category of "board or bureau" prohibiting from disciplining qualified patients.