Although Washington State passed the law on marijuana, it is still a drug that is on the Federal list of banned substances.
To give you a little history, prior to the implementation of the Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988, the US Postal Service did a study on the use of marijuana and it's effects. The facts according to the study are there is significant higher absenteeism rates, higher medical health care costs and higher and lower productivity rates for those individuals that used marijuana. All of these factors cost American Business billions of dollars each year.
We do suggest that all companies update their policies to reflect that the company does have a "Drug Free Workplace" and that they adhere to the list of banned substances that are provided under "Federal Law".
Also, according to two recent court cases in both Washington State and Oregon, it appears your company has the right to deny employment based on a positive marijuana drug test.
“In June 2011, the Washington Supreme Court held in Roe v. Teletech Customer Care Management, LLC, decided in June 2011, that the Washington State Medical Use of Marijuana Act does not prohibit an employer from discharging an employee for use of medical marijuana. The Court noted that Washington’s Medical Use of Marijuana Act was passed only to provide an affirmative defense to qualifying patients, caregivers and physicians for conduct that is otherwise prohibited by law (such as a defense to a violation of a local ordinance or state law prohibiting the personal possession or use of the drug). The Court’s decision goes on to confirm that the statute explicitly states that it does not require accommodation of any medical use of marijuana in any place of employment. In other words, the Court’s decision in this case confirms that the Act was not passed to give employees a free pass to violate their employer’s drug-free workplace policies and that employers may continue to hold their employees – even those with a lawful medicinal marijuana prescription – accountable under their drug-free policies.
The Oregon Supreme Court issued a similar ruling last year, in Emerald Steel Fabricators, Inc. v. Bureau of Labor & Industries. In that case, the Oregon Court confirmed that employers are not required to accommodate use of medical marijuana under the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act. The Court specifically held that an employer was justified in revoking an employee’s offer of permanent employment after he notified the employer of his medical marijuana use. Following termination, the employee argued that he was discharged because of a disability which the employer failed to accommodate. The Court sided with the employer that the employee was not protected and the United States Controlled Substances Act – a law that the Court concluded preempted the Oregon statute authorizing use of medical marijuana.”
Happy New Year!
