California Supreme Court: It's Okay to Fire Employees Prescribed Medical Marijuana

The California Supreme Court has just ruled that employers can fire workers using marijuana, even if they got it legally prescribed to them under the state's medicinal marijuana law.

At the center of the case was Gary Ross's claim that his 2001 firing was illegal. Ross, 45, was fired from his job at a network server center in Sacramento in 2001 just a week after being hired.

The employer, RagingWire, discovered Ross used marijuana to treat an old back injury. In a statement to News10, RagingWire defended the firing because Ross knew he could be called in to work at any time.

Here's the majority ruling:

In the ruling issued Thursday morning, the majority ruling said, "Plaintiff’s position might have merit if the Compassionate Use Act gave
marijuana the same status as any legal prescription drug. But the act’s effect is not
so broad. No state law could completely legalize marijuana for medical purposes because the drug remains illegal under federal law."

While Ross claimed his firing violated California's Fair Employment and Housing Act, the ruling states, "The FEHA does not require employers to accommodate the use of illegal drugs."

The court said while the Compassionate Use Act allows medical marijuana users to avoid prosecution under state law, "... we have no reason to conclude the voters intended to speak so broadly, and in a context so far removed from the criminal law, as to require employers to accommodate marijuana use."

"We thus conclude plaintiff cannot state a cause of action for wrongful termination in violation of public policy," wrote the justices.

What do you think? Do you agree with the Court's ruling? Link