Denise Elliott

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Two years ago, the first medical marijuana dispensary opened in Pennsylvania.  Since that time, well over a hundred thousand Pennsylvania residents have become certified to use medical marijuana, additional conditions were added to the listed of qualifying serious health conditions and employers started to field questions from employees who wanted to use (or already were…

Prior to July 2nd, New Jersey’s Medical Cannabis Act lacked protections for employees’ off-duty medical marijuana use.  Indeed, last year the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey held that nothing in the Medical Cannabis Act “requires an employer to waive a drug test as a condition of employment for federally-prohibited…

What’s new in the world of medical marijuana, as it impacts your workplace?  Quite a bit, actually.  Here is the rundown.

PA Medical Marijuana Act – Anxiety and Tourette’s Syndrome Added to List of Serious Medical Conditions

Effective July 20, 2019, the Pennsylvania Department of Health added anxiety disorders and Tourette’s syndrome to the list…

At the end of 2018, the Superior Court of Delaware held that a terminated employee could proceed with his lawsuit, alleging that his employer terminated him for being a medical marijuana cardholder.  Chance v. Kraft Heinz Foods Co.  In allowing the suit to move forward, the Delaware Court found that the anti-discrimination language in the…

On October 17, the Pennsylvania Senate signed the previously approved House Bill 1840, known as the “Protz Workers’ Compensation Legislative Fix,” which is expected to be signed into law by Governor Tom Wolf within the next several days.

Why is a “Protz Fix” necessary? Employers in Pennsylvania suffered a major blow, when the Impairment Rating…

Two years ago, when the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act (MMA) passed, we advised employers that the Act contained an express anti-discrimination provision providing that:

No employer may discharge, threaten, refuse to hire or otherwise discriminate or retaliate against any employee regarding an employee’s compensation, terms, conditions, location or privileges solely on the basis of such…

Typically, a drug test cannot be certified as positive until a Medical Review Officer (“MRO”) verifies the result.  For drivers subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act, Department of Transportation Regulations state that an MRO must verify as positive a confirmed test result for drugs, unless the employee presents a legitimate medical explanation for…

Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act (MMA) was signed into law on April 17, 2016 and officially took effect last week. One of the questions we’ve been asked since the passage of the Act is: how will employer provided insurance (both health and workers’ compensation) be affected by the legalization of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania? The simple…