Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There was a previous thread about this, when the gentleman was fired.
I think it should be pointed out that Wal-Mart is obligated to follow federal guidelines regarding drug use by its employees, even in the case of medical marijuana.
Under the "employment at will" doctrine I do not see how they really can sue the employer. I am sympathetic to the employee but under the law I cannot see it being successful. I guess they could try to file it under the ADA and argue that the employer did not attempt to make reasonable accommodations but even that might be a stretch because most courts would probably be hesitant to rule cancer to be a "disability". Otherwise you will have people coming to work drunk and saying alcoholism is a disability and people smoking at work saying nicotine addiction is a disability. If I were the judge I would have to rule against the employee. As sympathetic as I am to his cause and while I do think Wal*Mart was morally wrong to dismiss him, the law just does not support his argument at this time.
Cancer is actually a "recognized disability" in the US. If you get cancer and are not able to work as a result. In fact, there are special provisions in medicare rules for cancer victims. If you are disabled as a result of cancer, the 2 or 3 year wait for medicare is waived and you will be place on it immediately.
Last edited by Weekender1968; 06-30-2010 at 05:38 AM..
The simple solution is to take marajuana off the list of illegal drugs that are screened for. Now, if only there was a way to do such a thing....
Best answer so far!
Besides.....now it's Wal-Mart.
Next it would be every other company.
And as long as the Federal Govt. refuses to recognize marijuana as a legitimate medicine or it's legal status in over 13 states......nothing will change.
State Laws should always trump Federal law, IMHO.
Marijuana should be completely removed from all employer drug testing policies, but that's just too easy of a solution.......one which will likely, NEVER happen.
Good. It's none of Wal-Mart's business what he does off work, medical marijuana or recreational marijuana. Unless it affects his job performance or safety, which it doesn't, they should leave him alone.
Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, fired Joseph Casias in November 2009 after he failed an on-the-job injury-related drug test
I think it should be pointed out that there is no federal law that requires private employers to prohibit their employees from using illegal drugs.
Actually, there are. For instance, there are specific laws enforced by the Department of Transportation requiring companies to have policies in place prohibiting employees from using drugs. Those policies include drug testing, and even govern how employers must address the drug use, from offering treatment to keeping records of employees that have failed drug tests.
The Department of Labor promotes drug-free workplaces, and has several different programs regarding drug testing of employees, and dealing with positive results.
OSHA has recommendations and guidelines in place.
Safety and Health Topics: Workplace Substance Abuse (http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/substanceabuse/index.html - broken link)
More than that, a large corporation has to have insurance in place. The liability issues associated with a retailer that has so many employees interacting with the public and failing to have a policy to prohibit illegal drug use by employees would be enormous. Wal-Mart gets sued almost daily. The costs to the company by not pre-addressing employee substance abuse would be so costly that not having such a policy could be considered reckless and irresponsible to stock holders.
Even if it is not a corporation. It does not matter. Employees should have rights. Even if it is a small business. Let's say that there is a receptionist that works for a motel. She has worked there faithfully for 30 years. Many people do even at jobs like this. Then a new owner buys the motel and he just decides he wants somebody else there so he says "you are fired". Do you think that is right? I don't. She should be able to go to a judge or a labour board and either get her job back or be awarded a severance package based on the time she worked there and contributed to that business. I would award her a week's pay for every year she was there and make them continue her medical and life insurance for a year.
Kevin What kind of "rights" are you referring to here? Rights as defined in the the DOI? Rights as enumerated in the BOR? Can you show us in the US Constitution where an employee has a "right" to employment?
The simple solution is to take marajuana off the list of illegal drugs that are screened for. Now, if only there was a way to do such a thing....
I agree and would add all "illegal" drugs.
The abuse of alcohol, MJ, and all illegal drugs, is a national health problem, not a criminal one, since it is the government that creates criminals out of those whom would likely be otherwise law abiding citizens. Take the illegallity out of the issue, and you remove law enforcement to concentrate on real violent crime not related to drugs, since legalizing drugs would remove the criminal element in the trade.
Treating drug abuse as a medical problem would relieve the prisons from overcrowding since more than 50% of the people incarcerated are there for drug related crimes. Take that money and redirect it to the hospitals, clinics, and recovery programs, and one will find much better results since there is absolutely no rehabilitiation in prison. In fact, prisons only increase a drug user and drug dealer's connections since they are all together and formulate plans to increase their influence upon release.
Our current US drug problem even infects the war in Afghanistan since we protect the warlords, who protect the poppy growers, whose dope ends up here on the streets of the US. The US can't take away the Afghans' way of make a living and expect them to respect the US.
The way to gain their respect is to support them, and buy from them legally, to aid our addicted people here in the US which will eventually diminish from rehabilitation. The US could then redirect the excess supply to the legal processing of poppy for legal drugs used by the health industry for pain. This may also diminish the poppy production in Afghanistan due to legal supply and demand nature of the business, at least, here in the US. Then, the Afghans might begin to find for themselves, other ways to make a living rather than poppy production.
It should be a national priority to legalize all illegal drugs for the Congress in the next session. What we have been doing since the 1920's hasn't worked, isn't working now, and likely will never work. How many times do we need to bang our heads against the wall to realize that when something isn't working, it's time to formulate a different solution to this national disgraceful problem. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is just plain stupidity and insanity.
I don't much care if the drug is for medical reasons or not...if it impacts your ability to do the job, go find a new job.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Now, if only there was a way to do such a thing....
