rssCoors fires worker for medical marijuana
- 12 Comments
Paul Curry is out of work. His unemployment claim hasn’t yet been ruled on. At least he still has his medical marijuana–of course that’s why MillerCoors fired him.
According to his attorney, Rob Corry, he uses medical marijuana because of two separate conditions. He has nausea as a result of hepatitis C and he has severe back pain because of an injury he suffered while at work–at MillerCoors.
Corry said that when Curry was involved in a minor non-injury accident at work a few months ago, he was tested for marijuana and the test came up positive.
Corry says his client will probably sue MillerCoors for discrimination. The constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana in Colorado states that employers do not have to make any accommodations to the use of medical marijuana while at work but is silent on the subject of use outside of work, according to Corry.
Corry says, however, that it is illegal to discriminate against an employee because of a disability. “This is a clear case of discrimination on the basis of a disability,” he says.
He says Curry had a good employment record with the company, where he had worked for seven years.
Curry recently spoke with 9News:
Paul Curry says his seven years at MillerCoors came to an abrupt end with one simple conversation.
“They just told me to pack my bags. They brought in security, I emptied out my locker and they told me to go home,” he said.
While MillerCoors cannot comment on the decision to let Curry go, Curry says he was told he was being fired because he had just tested positive for marijuana. Not a surprise, says Curry.
“I’ve been on the [medical marijuana registry] for about a year,” he said.
The MillerCoors media relations office did not quickly return a call, but Curtis Graves, staff attorney at the Mountain States Employers Council, says that while he is unaware of any court cases in Colorado related to employees being fired for medical marijuana use, courts in other states have sided with employers.
“Courts have said that if you test positive for marijuana, employers can treat that as if you were impaired at work.”
He says the clause the Corry referred to about employers not having to accommodate medical marijuana use at work can be interpreted to mean that employers do not have to accommodate any use of medical marijuana.
“If someone tests positive, the employer can assume they are impaired and discipline that person according to the company’s policy.”
Graves said, however, that as testing methodologies improve, the balance may shift to favor employees. “When a test is developed that measures actual current impairment, then employees will be able to say ‘use that test’ instead of one that simply measures THC levels, but we aren’t there yet.”
12 Comments
Comment posted May 21, 2011 @ 3:28 pm
I don’t drink that swill anyway, but this gives me more of a reason to talk about most of the crappy domestic commercial beer in the U.S.
Remember these beers require a much lower temperature and I.Q. to consume.
Comment posted May 21, 2011 @ 3:28 pm
I don’t drink that swill anyway, but this gives me more of a reason to talk about most of the crappy domestic commercial beer in the U.S.
Remember these beers require a much lower temperature and I.Q. to consume.
Comment posted May 21, 2011 @ 3:42 pm
P.S.
How safe does your union feel about the Republican Party right now. Are they trying to equate you with those dirty teachers and social/city workers?
Comment posted May 22, 2011 @ 11:26 pm
Don’t smoke medical marijuana, but go ahead and OD on all the pills your doc prescribes. It LONG past due for America as a country to get over the weed issue. It’s not that serious. Pill abuse is a much more serious issue than weed.
Comment posted May 23, 2011 @ 1:18 am
If the guy was a speed freak he could get off on Friday, start doing crank, and drink shitty Coors beer and tweek until Sunday afternoon. If he drank a bunch of water and got some sleep Sunday night he could go to work Monday. He wouldn’t be worth crap, but he could probably run the machine that puts the “artificial head retaining” chemicals in the vats of swill. By Tuesday he could pass a UA.
If, on the other hand, he uses a harmless herb on his own time to relieve his pain, he’s treated like a criminal.
I wouldn’t want to work for that family anyway, but a job’s a job.
Comment posted May 23, 2011 @ 1:29 am
In addition-look at these smug, shellack-haired newscasters grinning and winking about there being 128,000 people in CO with a medical card. Look at that guy that got laid off-he’s at least fifty, and he’s a production worker with a bad back trying to hang on until he’s 62 without getting strung out on oxycodone. Think about all the cancer patients or elderly people with arthritis who are able to get a little relief at a modest price.
Comment posted May 23, 2011 @ 2:17 pm
Policies like this, allied with legislatures trying to drug test UIB & Welfare applicants, means that the Corporate Oligarchy is putting potheads on a death trip unless they resort to a life of crime. They want to make it so that potheads die of starvation & complete lack of care. It leaves one obvious alternative; if some one is trying to kill you, use equal force in order to stay alive. This can be interpreted in many different ways, but all imply doing to them what they’re trying to do to you. So much for a peaceful decade to come….
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