cannabisnews.com: State Court To Rule on Employees' Rights 





State Court To Rule on Employees' Rights 
Posted by CN Staff on January 24, 2008 at 06:45:10 PT
By Crystal Carreon 
Source: Sacramento Bee
California -- The California Supreme Court is expected to rule for the first time Thursday on whether the state's 12-year-old medical marijuana law shields users from not only police and prosecutors, but also prospective employers looking to fire over positive drug tests.The court's opinion, scheduled to be released at 10 a.m., will center on a discrimination claim by Carmichael resident Gary Ross over his 2001 firing from Sacramento telecommunications firm RagingWire. It could either uphold users' rights, affirm employers' discretion or leave the labor rights question to be answered by lawmakers or voters.
Whatever the outcome, legal observers and activists say the Supreme Court's decision could have far reaching implications beyond California, potentially affecting cases in many of the 11 other states with medical marijuana laws modeled after California's Compassionate Use Act of 1996. "It's extremely significant; it's probably not only the most important medical marijuana case in California, but in the nation right now," Kris Hermes of the advocacy group Americans for Safe Access told The Bee after the Ross case was heard before the state Supreme Court last fall.At the hearing in November, Ross' attorneys Stewart Katz of Sacramento and Joseph Elford of San Francisco told six of the seven justices present that the Fair Employment and Housing Act requires employers to make "reasonable accommodations" for workers who have disabilities. They said that Ross' use of marijuana was part of a medical treatment for a disability.Complete Title: State Court To Rule on Employees' Rights Under Medical Marijuana Law Snipped:Complete Article: http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/658819.htmlSource: Sacramento Bee (CA)Author: Crystal Carreon Published: Thursday, January 24, 2008Copyright: 2008 The Sacramento BeeContact: opinion sacbee.comWebsite: http://www.sacbee.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Americans For Safe Accesshttp://www.safeaccessnow.org/CA Supreme Court To Rule on MMJ & Employmenthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23496.shtmlMedical Marijuana and Employershttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23470.shtml
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on January 24, 2008 at 10:57:10 PT
fight_4_freedom 
That's ok. Don't even worry about it.
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Comment #10 posted by fight_4_freedom on January 24, 2008 at 10:53:49 PT:
sorry FoM
I should have figured you'd be on top of it :)
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on January 24, 2008 at 10:52:54 PT
Sam
Here you go.Calif. Court: Medical Pot Not OK at Workhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23617.shtml
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Comment #8 posted by fight_4_freedom on January 24, 2008 at 10:52:21 PT:
Here ya go Sam
http://tinyurl.com/33nxk2But it's ok to be on morphine or oxycontin. What a joke. Pure discrimination against the cannabis culture.
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Comment #7 posted by Sam Adams on January 24, 2008 at 10:49:05 PT
F4F
where is the link to the news? thanks.
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Comment #6 posted by fight_4_freedom on January 24, 2008 at 10:40:59 PT:
They ruled against us and it completely
ruined my day.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on January 24, 2008 at 10:35:21 PT
runruff
That is very interesting. I believe that many people aren't aware. 
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Comment #4 posted by runruff on January 24, 2008 at 10:28:14 PT:
My probation officer.
He is a real decent guy. He was here yesterday. He is completely oblivious to the war that is raging out here. In the courts and on the streets. I showed him this website and some of the newspaper articles and he said he had no idea that so much was taking place out there. He sort of acted like the law is all cut and dried and that was that. He didn't know so many people were out there fighting for their rights and freedom.I told him this is the new guerrilla warfare pointing to my computer. He seemed amazed that any such thing was even taking place. I told him that all of the candadates promised to put a muzzle on the DEA after they were elected and to let the verious states have their herbal medicine.I would bet that most federal employees are complacent and unaware in their jobs.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on January 24, 2008 at 10:25:53 PT
AP: Ruling Due In Employee Medical Marijuana Case
January 24, 2008SACRAMENTO (AP) -- The California Supreme Court is expected to rule today on whether medical marijuana laws protect users from being fired if they test positive for drugs. The case centers on a Sacramento-area resident who was fired from a small telecommunications firm in 2001.When his new boss at Ragingwire Inc. ordered Gary Ross to take a drug test, the recently hired computer tech had no doubt the results would come back positive for marijuana. But along with his urine sample, Ross submitted a doctor's recommendation that he smoke pot to alleviate back pain - a document he figured would save him from being fired. It didn't, however, and Ross was let go eight days into his tenure because the company said federal law makes marijuana illegal no matter the use. Ross, 45, contends that Ragingwire discriminated against him because of a back injury and violated the state's fair-employment law by punishing him for legally smoking marijuana at home. He says he and others using medical marijuana should receive the same workplace protection from discipline that employees with valid painkiller prescriptions do. California voters legalized medicinal marijuana in 1996. Eleven other states, including Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington state, have adopted similar laws and many are now grappling with the same sticky, workplace issues over drug use by employees smoking medicinal marijuana approved by doctors. Ross said he permanently injured his back in 1983 while serving as a U.S. Air Force mechanic. He said it wasn't until 1999 that he found true pain relief with marijuana, though scientists are still split on the drug's effectiveness. The American Medical Association advocates keeping marijuana classified as a tightly controlled and dangerous drug that should not be legalized until more research is conducted. ``I think I'm standing up for everybody else,'' Ross said back in November. ``My motivation is that I don't like to lose and that medical marijuana is effective.'' So far, though, Ross has been losing. Two lower courts have sided with Ragingwire's decision to fire Ross because federal law holds that marijuana is illegal in all guises. Copyright: 2008 The Associated Presshttp://cbs13.com/local/medical.marijuana.supreme.2.637002.html
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on January 24, 2008 at 08:21:34 PT
fight_4_freedom 
I sure hope they rule in our favor too.
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Comment #1 posted by fight_4_freedom on January 24, 2008 at 08:00:08 PT:
Well we'll know in a couple of hours
I hope they rule in our favor.
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