California Supreme Court: No Accommodation for Medical Marijuana

The California Supreme Court decided today that there is no duty under the Fair Employment and Housing Act to "reasonably accommodate" medical marijuana use as treatment for a "disability." The Court also held the plaintiff could not state a claim for wrongful termination in violation of public policy based on California's Compassionate Use Act, aka Prop. 215. The Legislature may pass a law amending FEHA to require accommodation of medical marijuana use, assuming the Governor would sign such a bill. Or, another initiative may be presented to the voters. Until then, though, employers may deny employment based on positive drug tests for marijuana, medical or otherwise. The case is Ross v. RagingWire Telecomm., Inc. The opinion is here.

I admit this is an especially nice post to write, considering I principally authored the employer's briefs at the Court of Appeal and in the Supreme Court. Shameless plug, I know, but this has been a long time coming! And a thank you to my former colleagues Marlena (Ct.App.) and Tim (S.Ct.) for their hard work on the briefs, and to my former partner, Rob, for arguing at the Supreme Court.

Greg