The California State Compensation Fund (State Fund), the state’s main provider of workers’ compensation insurance, reports that it has seen a significant decrease in opioid use by injured workers since 2014. State Fund said its efforts have reduced the number of opioid prescriptions for injured workers it provides care for by 82% between 2014 and […]
An injured worker who was fired after a positive marijuana drug test can’t move forward with a wrongful termination suit since the drug is still illegal under federal law, according to the Nevada Supreme Court. Although marijuana use is legal in the state, the court found it is still illegal under federal law so there’s […]
A new report from the National Safety Council reveals that a majority of employers are interested in using impairment detection technology (IDT) to screen for multiple forms of impairment in the workplace. IDT is technology with the potential to screen for multiple forms of impairment – including from chemical substances, stress, fatigue and mental distress […]
The New York City Fire Department is going to stop marijuana testing for its firefighters and applicants. On July 14, the department issued a memo stating the decision to stop testing is in conjunction with the city’s Law Department issuing “guidance that prohibits adverse employment actions based on off-hours marijuana usage,” according to law firm […]
Rhode Island has joined the growing list of states legalizing recreational marijuana and while employers aren’t required to accommodate use of the drug at work they’re prohibited from taking adverse action for off-duty use. Governor Dan McKee signed a bill making recreational marijuana use legal in the state on May 25, with the new law […]
Marijuana legalization, medical and otherwise, is a tricky area for employers in the U.S., filled with ambiguities from state to state and even on the federal level. That’s also true for legal products derived from cannabis. A May 13 court decision involving the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an employee taking a legal cannabis product […]
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to refrain from reviewing a pair of recent decisions made by Minnesota’s Supreme Court denying two workers’ requests for reimbursement of medical marijuana. Attorneys for both workers submitted requests asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the cases and provide guidance for lower courts, […]
With more than 100,000 deaths in 12 months, drug overdose deaths in the U.S. were at their highest point ever in 2021, yet on the flip side, marijuana legalization continues in many states. And while legalization of marijuana isn’t the cause of the drug overdose problem, it does beg the question: Does legalization of a […]
Is use of CBD oil, and a subsequent positive marijuana drug test, protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? A federal court says no. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana dismissed an employee’s ADA discrimination suit because it’s not logical to assume an employer who conducts drug testing believes that […]
