A former Amazon employee who was fired for using medical cannabis has won a federal court decision that will send the resulting lawsuit back to New Jersey’s Supreme Court, where he has a much stronger shot at winning the case.
Federal Court Rules In Favor of Cannabis Patient Who Is Suing Amazon
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A worker who was fired by Amazon for their medical cannabis use won a key federal court decision this week after the U.S. District Court agreed to push the case back to the New Jersey Supreme Court, Marijuana Moment reports.
The worker, who is only listed in the lawsuit by his initials D.J.C., filed his lawsuit against Amazon in 2019 after he was fired over a failed drug test. The suit originated in the New Jersey Superior Court but Amazon filed for the case to be moved to federal court, where the company’s targeting of cannabis patients would be protected by federal law.
D.J.C. successfully had the case returned to New Jersey, where he has a significantly better chance at a positive outcome, by amending his suit to include his former manager (who is based in New Jersey) and by removing references to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
The case transfer is especially good news for the former Amazon worker because New Jersey’s Supreme Court ruled in March that medical cannabis patients cannot be fired over a failed drug test for cannabis use. The protections do not, however, protect patients if they are intoxicated at work.
“The plaintiff’s case has only gotten legally stronger since March of this year,” attorney Matthew Collins said in the report.
“It puts Amazon in this situation of being bound by legal precedent that wasn’t really clear in 2018, but they’re going to be bound by it in 2020 and going forward.” — Matthew Collins, attorney for Brach Eichler LLC, via Marijuana Moment
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