THC In A Drug Test Cost This Woman Her Job, But The Supreme Court Had Her Back
In 2014, Massachusetts resident Cristina Barbuto was fired from her job at Advantage Sales and Marketing-after just one day of employment. The reason? Her drug test yielded a positive result for THC. On Monday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in her favor, a decision that shocked many.
“I can’t stress this enough, it’s the first case of its kind in the country,” said Dale Deitchler. He is a shareholder of Littler Mendelson, the world’s largest labor and employment law firm, and also an expert on the subject of cannabis issues in the workplace.
When Barbuto was fired, a representative from human resources contacted her and informed her of her job’s termination-because the company follows federal law, not state law, when it comes to cannabis. Barbuto suffers from a gastrointestinal condition called Chron’s Disease, for which she used products containing THC to manage her symptoms. In official documentation regarding the case, the terminated employee specified that she did not use these products on a daily basis, nor did she ever consume them before or during work.
In 2015, she filed a suit in Suffolk County Superior Court, claiming discrimination. This landmark case and its unexpected decision illustrated a glaring issue regarding how employees’ rights are not protected under the letter of the law.
“Massachusetts is not a state where such protections are written in the law so this is really significant. The court created law,” Deitchler stated after the ruling had been made.
Under state rule, though recreational and medicinal uses of cannabis are allowed, employees are banned from using it prior to or during work. They may also face termination from the workplace if a drug test turns up a positive result for THC-if it is not being used as a part of an approved medical plan. For certain occupations, such as pilots and bus drivers, no accommodations can be made for medicinal use cannabis.
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