Colorado Supreme Court: Employees Can Be Fired For Using Pot Outside Work

A man pulls out a bag of marijuana to fill a pipe at the first day of Hempfest, Friday, Aug. 16, 2013, in Seattle. Thousands packed the Seattle waterfront park for the opening of a three-day marijuana festival — an... A man pulls out a bag of marijuana to fill a pipe at the first day of Hempfest, Friday, Aug. 16, 2013, in Seattle. Thousands packed the Seattle waterfront park for the opening of a three-day marijuana festival — an event that is part party, part protest and part victory celebration after the legalization of pot in Washington and Colorado last fall. Hempfest was expected to draw as many as 85,000 people per day. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

DENVER (AP) — Colorado’s Supreme Court has ruled that a medical marijuana patient who was fired after failing a drug test cannot get his job back.

The case has big implications for employers and pot smokers in states that have legalized medical or recreational marijuana. Colorado became the first state to legalize recreational pot in 2012.

Though the Colorado case involves medical marijuana, the court’s decision could also affect how companies treat employees who use the drug recreationally.

Brandon Coats is a quadriplegic who was fired by Dish Network after failing a drug test in 2010. The company agreed that Coats wasn’t high on the job but said it has a zero-tolerance drug policy.

Courts in California, Montana and Washington state also ruled against medical marijuana patients fired for pot use.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for dnl dnl says:

    …then off-the-job imbibers of alcohol need to be treated the same.

  2. Uh, guys, I believe it would be SCOTCO? I know headline character limits are onerous, but SCOTUS has “the United States” in there, so it really can’t be applied to a state Supreme Court.

  3. Really little thing: the mini-headline for this refers to the “Colo. SCOTUS.” “SCOTUS” is obviously “Supreme Court of the US,” which is equally obviously not the Colorado Supreme Court. So it’s Colo. SC, or I guess you could try “SCOCO.”

  4. Alcohol is a dangerous drug. It’s a legal product when consumed properly. Does this ruling mean companies can fire people based on drinking liquor? Lately, courts have been injecting themselves into the legislative and initiative process and forcing their will. Courts are also giving companies way too much power over its employees and what they do off the job.

  5. aaaand this is the result of the federal ban remaining in place. That needs to get addressed.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

48 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for doremus_jessup Avatar for lestatdelc Avatar for fgs Avatar for marnold Avatar for wordtoyamamma Avatar for cwazycajun Avatar for pdxer Avatar for sniffit Avatar for dbushik Avatar for kevanlove Avatar for arrendis Avatar for bigbraxstone Avatar for joelopines Avatar for boidster Avatar for griffin Avatar for ronbyers Avatar for dnl Avatar for occamsrazor2 Avatar for seehowtheyrun Avatar for bckrd1 Avatar for jabman88 Avatar for professorpoopypants

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: