Pubdate: Sat, 05 Apr 2014
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Page: B1
Copyright: 2014 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.philly.com/inquirer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/340
Note: from the Associated Press

CLERK SUSPENDED FOR USE OF MEDICAL POT SUES NJ TRANSIT

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - A NJ Transit clerk who was suspended for using
medical marijuana to treat his end-stage renal failure has sued the
agency.

The suit filed by Charlie Davis, 57, may be the first of its kind in
New Jersey, where medical marijuana has been legally available since
2012.

Davis says the drug helps ease pain in his nerve-damaged legs and
makes sleeping easier.

According to the lawsuit filed in March in state court in Newark,
Davis was bumped from his job as a procurement clerk by a more senior
employee in December. He applied for a position in the field as a
railroad block operator.

When he went to a required physical for the job, he said, he was told
it would require a drug test.

He said he disclosed that he was using medical marijuana as a
treatment recommended by a doctor and that he was willing to apply for
a different position - one not deemed safety-sensitive like the block
operator position - if that was a problem. His lawyer said he never
drove buses or trains and did not go to work while high.

But he said the agency's medical director told him he had to be given
a drug test after his admission of marijuana use. When it came back
positive, he says, he was told he could not work at any job for the
agency unless he went to drug rehabilitation first.

NJ Transit spokesman John Durso told the StarLedger newspaper even
though the drug was legal for certain patients in the state, it was
prohibited under Federal Railroad Administration and Federal Transit
Administration guidelines. He said the federal Transportation
Department did not consider marijuana use acceptable, even when
allowed by state law for people with medical conditions.

Courts have sided with employers in similar cases elsewhere. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D