Vermont Supreme Court Denies Unemployment Appeal by Cannabis Patient Fired for Cannabis Use

The Vermont Supreme Court last week overruled an appeal for unemployment benefits by a medical cannabis patient who was fired after testing positive for cannabis on a drug test, ABC News reports.

Ivo Skoric, 59, was terminated on January 9, 2023, from his part-time job cleaning and fueling buses for the city of Rutland for misconduct after testing positive for cannabis on a drug test; and because he was fired for misconduct, state law has prevented him from collecting unemployment benefits. Representing himself, Skoric appealed his case to the state Supreme Court earlier this year where he argued that he should not lose benefits granted by the state just for participating in a state-sanctioned medical program.

The court noted that Skoric’s position had been safety-sensitive and required him to have a commercial driver’s license, and that his firing was the result of violating federal U.S. Department of Transportation regulations.

But while the court rejected his appeal, the justices stopped short of clarifying whether medical cannabis patients in the state are entitled to off-duty cannabis use, noting instead that the Labor Department “properly declined to issue a declaratory ruling” and that Skoric’s “violation of written workplace policy stood as an independent source of disqualifying conduct,” the report said. 

Skoric, who sought a declaratory ruling about whether Vermont medical cannabis patients have the right to use cannabis while off-duty without repercussion, told ABC News the court’s decision does not satisfactorily address the issue: “It does not discuss whether an employee who is medical cannabis patient in Vermont has the right to use cannabis in the off-hours.”