Nevada Medical Pot Patients Can Sue Former Employer If Fired, Court Rules

If you are a medical cannabis patient in Nevada, smoke. State medical cannabis patients were recently empowered to consume cannabis on their own time after a landmark court decision.

On December 1, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that employees in the state have the right to sue former employees if they were fired for using marijuana outside of work hours. Note, however, that in-state adult-use cannabis consumers are not offered exactly the same protections.

This ruling dates back three years to November 2019, when Jim Roushkolb filed a lawsuit in the Eighth District Court.

“It relaxes me” Roushkolb Said KTNV of the FOX lineage suffering from PTSD and many other symptoms. In 1995, Roushkolb was viciously attacked when an ex-convict working as a prison guard in Ohio assaulted him in his car.

“He opened the door and grabbed me. He hit me over the head with a pipe,” he said. He tore his retina. “

Roushkolb used cannabis to relieve PTSD symptoms and anxiety, but in 2018 his employer, Freeman Expositions LLC, confirmed that he was legally taking medical cannabis in Nevada. fired him on the spot after testing positive for THC.

His attorney, Christian Gavroy, quickly admitted to the clear case.

“The company acted discriminatory, this company violated his rights and this multi-jurisdictional, multi-million dollar company fired him in violation of Nevada law,” Gavroy said. said.

Adult use in Nevada is not the same

Recreational cannabis smokers in Nevada may not get the same results in court. NORML pointed out in September last year: Recreational cannabis consumers and patients are affected by a different set of parameters.

Nevada law limit Employers punishing workers enrolled in state medical cannabis access programs.Furthermore, in 2019 law It is “illegal for any employer. [Nevada] Not hiring or refusing to hire a prospective employee because the prospective employee has been screened and the results of the screening test indicate the presence of marijuana. ”

But if you get fired for a drug test, good luck fighting it in court. Just last August, the Nevada Supreme Court dismissed a similar lawsuit against an employee who was fired for testing positive for THC.

Nevada Supreme Court Upheld a lower court’s decision to dismiss a complaint by an employee who was fired for testing positive for THC For periodic inspection after a traffic accident.

in the case of Ceballos vs. NP Palace, LLCThe employee said the positive THC result was due to recreational marijuana use at home and was not intoxicated or disabled at work in accordance with state law.

Nevada law under NRS 613.333(1) requires an employer to “[d]Paid. . . any employee. . . because employees are involved[d] If the product is legally used in this state outside of the employer’s premises outside of the employee’s working hours, “that use will not adversely affect the employee’s ability to perform his or her job or the safety of other employees.” “as long as.

However, a Nevada judge ruled that federal law and the federal status of cannabis also applied to that clause, and plaintiffs’ lawsuit was dismissed. A similar decision was made by the Colorado Supreme Court in 2015. However, using this logic, medical cannabis would also be illegal under federal law.