Q: My Company wants to institute a drug testing policy that would automatically disqualify an applicant for employment if they test positive for illegal drugs, including medically-prescribed marijuana. Is this legal?...more
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently ruled in Barbuto v. Advantage Sales and Marketing, LLC that an employee's use of medical marijuana to treat a qualified disability may be a reasonable accommodation under...more
A recent unanimous decision by the highest state court in Massachusetts sends a warning signal to employers in all states. Marijuana in the workplace is a complex and unsettled legal issue that will require all employers to...more
On July 17th, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that Massachusetts employers may not terminate an employee merely because of his or her off-site use of medical marijuana. According to the Court, the use of medically-prescribed...more
As our readers know, we have been monitoring decisions regarding the ability of employers to take disciplinary action against employees for using marijuana at work. The most recent high court to weigh in on this topic is the...more
In a decision that is the first of its kind, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts reversed the dismissal of a state law disability discrimination claim arising from an employee’s request for a reasonable accommodation...more
In a recent decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has made it clear that employers cannot take action against employees who lawfully uses medical marijuana, as doing so is tantamount to denying a request for a...more
On July 17, 2017, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in Barbuto v. Advantage Sales & Marketing, LLC, that an employee using medical marijuana in treatment of a chronic illness may qualify for protection against...more
In a much-anticipated decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled on July 17, 2017, that an employee's use of medical marijuana to treat a qualified disability may be a reasonable accommodation under the...more
On July 17, 2017, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a unanimous ruling in Barbuto v. Advantage Sales and Marketing, LLC, allowing medical marijuana users to assert claims for handicap discrimination under the...more