Posts Tagged ‘ Labor Law ’

Medical Marijuana Catch-22: You’re Fired

March 24th, 2010. By AbiK

joint Medical Marijuana Catch 22: Youre Fired How in hell do the fourteen states where it’s legal—yes, LEGAL—to use marijuana for medical reasons have such a progressive law that, on the flip side, opens the door for employers to fire medical marijuana card-carrying employees who test positive for marijuana use?

According to a cnn.com article, Keith Stroup, who’s on the legal counsel team for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, says he gets around “300 emails and phone calls a year from medical marijuana who have been fired or had job offers rescinded because of a failed drug test.”

Stroup goes on to say, “Usually they talk about how they have lost their job and I tell them there’s not a thing they can do about it.”

True, in most at-will employment states an employee can be fired for any reason—except for those reasons that put the employee in a federally protected class—such as race, gender, and religion.

But medical marijuana-use employees are not a federally protected class. So employers pretty much Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Discrimination, Employment, Labor Law, Marijuana, Medical Marijuana
Posted in Discrimination, Drugs/Medical, Emerging Issues, Employment | 31488 Comments »2010-03-24+18%3A11%3A35AbiK

Right To Work vs. Employment at Will: what’s the difference?

October 28th, 2009. By Kristine B

normaraeunion Right To Work vs. Employment at Will: whats the difference? Lately, I’ve been researching state employment laws (for the record, I do have a life). And I’ve come across a lot of people who are confused “right to work” and “employment at will.” Can’t say I blame them. So, this week Pleading Ignorance is setting the record straight about…

The difference between ”right to work” and “employment at will”

Both “right to work” and “employment at will” are, obviously, employment terms. One has to do with hiring employees (hopefully you) the other has to do with firing employees (hopefully not you).

Right to Work

“Right to work” laws govern hiring of employees. In a nutshell, “right to work” means that a person has the right to work for a company without being required to either join a union or financially support a union. Basically, if you live in a “right to work” state, joining a union, or paying union dues, can’t be a condition of your employment.

Even in “right to work” states, unions can still legally operate. In fact, they may even still represent all employees in grievances and negotiations. However, they can’t force a person to join the union or pay union dues if the person doesn’t want to.

Now, there are arguments both for and against “right to work” laws. The short version is that Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Employment Law, Labor Law, Pleading Ignorance
Posted in Employment, Pleading Ignorance | 1710No Comments »2009-10-28+20%3A06%3A31Kristine+B