New Jersey Goes Wild

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of New Jersey upheld the Appellate Court’s ruling in Wild v. Carriage Funeral Homes Inc., 458 N.J. Super 416, (App. Div. 2019). See Supreme Court decision. Essentially, it is confirmed that an employer cannot discriminate against an employee who tested positive for marijuana, if that employee was a part of the medical marijuana program under New Jersey’s Compassion Use Act. 

This ruling is consistent with the most recent legislation, Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act signed in July 2019, which states that it is “unlawful to take any adverse employment action against an employee who is a registered qualifying patient.” Moreover, the Cannabis Act also established a procedure that employers must follow when an employee tests positive for marijuana. 

Employers should be mindful that there are exceptions including federal exemptions, where the employer would lose a federal contractor or funding, or when an employee operates, navigates or is in actual physical control of any vehicle, aircraft, railroad train, stationary heavy equipment or vessel. 

In light of all these changes, employers may want to revisit their current employee handbooks, applications, policies and procedures. Now would be a great time to discuss these changes and your employment policies with McCormick & Priore.  Contact Robin Sammer Behn or Robert Cahall for a consultation.

For more information see our prior articles on Medical Marijuana decisions.

This article was prepared to provide information on recent legal developments of interest and is in no way intended to provide legal advice or to create an attorney-client relationship. All Rights Reserved.