Court takes up man's 'pot' firing

Punishment for off-duty use faces challenge in Colorado

In this April 25, 2013, file photo, attorney Michael Evans, left, listens in his office in Denver, as his client Brandon Coats talks about the Colorado Court of Appeals ruling that upheld Coats being fired from his job after testing positive for the use of medical marijuana. The Colorado Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in the marijuana-related firing case that could have big implications for the states pot smokers. Coats is a quadriplegic medical marijuana patient who was fired from his job at Dish Network after failing a drug test in 2010. Coats says he needs the drug to help with violent spasms he has suffered since he was paralyzed in a car accident as a teenager.
In this April 25, 2013, file photo, attorney Michael Evans, left, listens in his office in Denver, as his client Brandon Coats talks about the Colorado Court of Appeals ruling that upheld Coats being fired from his job after testing positive for the use of medical marijuana. The Colorado Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in the marijuana-related firing case that could have big implications for the states pot smokers. Coats is a quadriplegic medical marijuana patient who was fired from his job at Dish Network after failing a drug test in 2010. Coats says he needs the drug to help with violent spasms he has suffered since he was paralyzed in a car accident as a teenager.

DENVER -- Marijuana is legal in Colorado, but employees can still be fired for using it. Now the state's highest court is considering whether workers' off-duty use of medical marijuana is protected under state law.

Colorado's Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments in a case involving Brandon Coats, a quadriplegic medical-marijuana patient who was fired by Dish Network after failing a drug test in 2010.

Coats said he never used marijuana at work, but the drug's intoxicating chemical, THC, can stay in the system for weeks.

Coats said his marijuana use is allowed under a little-known state law intended to protect employees from being fired for legal activities off the clock. But the company has argued that because marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, it isn't covered by the state law.

The case is being watched closely around the country and could have big implications for marijuana users in the first state to legalize recreational sales of the drug. Although the Colorado case involves medical marijuana, the court's decision could also affect how companies treat employees who use the drug recreationally.

Twenty-three states and Washington, D.C., allow medical marijuana. Colorado and Washington are the only two states to also allow recreational sales.

Tuesday's arguments highlighted the clash between state laws that are increasingly accepting of marijuana use and employers' drug-free policies that don't tolerate it.

"This case need not be an endorsement or an indictment of medical marijuana" but a chance to set standards for employee conduct, Dish attorney Meghan Martinez told the justices, who could rule in the coming weeks or months. "It's a zero-tolerance policy. It doesn't matter if he was impaired or not."

Coats, 35, was paralyzed in a car crash as a teenager and has been a medical marijuana user since 2009, when he discovered the drug helped calm violent muscle spasms.

Coats was a telephone operator with Dish for three years before he failed a random drug test in 2010 and was fired. He said he told his supervisors in advance that he probably would fail the test.

Coats' case is going to the justices after a trial court judge and Colorado's appeals court upheld his firing, saying marijuana can't be considered lawful if it is outlawed at the federal level.

"We're getting very confused and mixed messages from everywhere," Coats' attorney, Michael Evans, told justices.

He asked the court to issue a narrow ruling that would apply to people like Coats: those in nonhazardous jobs who are not impaired at work and whose employers don't have federal contracts that could be jeopardized.

Colorado's constitution specifically says employers don't have to amend their policies to accommodate employees' marijuana use.

State Supreme Courts in California, Montana and Washington state have all ruled against fired patients. A lawsuit filed by a physician assistant in New Mexico who said she was fired for using medical marijuana, which helps with her post-traumatic stress disorder, is still pending.

Denver labor and employment attorney Vance Knapp said a Coats win "would turn employment policies into chaos." Other states with lawful-activity laws could see them challenged as a result.

Coats, who has been unable to find steady work because of his marijuana use, said after the hearing that he was hopeful he would prevail. At the very least, he said, the court will offer clarity on the issue.

"I'm not going to be able to get a job in the near future, so if I can fight the fight and hopefully change that, that's what I am going to do," he said.

A Section on 10/01/2014

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