A Pennsylvania Court held that an employer violated the state Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA) by refusing to reimburse an employee for out-of-pocket medical marijuana expenses related to a workplace injury.  Fegley v. Firestone Tire & Rubber (Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd.), 2023 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 26 (Commw. Ct. Mar. 17, 2023). 

Claimant was

Beginning January 6, 2023, motor carrier employers subject to the regulations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) may conduct part of the safety performance history investigation that is required for all driver-applicants in the FMCSA Clearinghouse.  Specifically, employers are required by 49 CFR § 391.23(e)(1) – (3) to obtain information about a driver-applicant’s

The Department of Transportation’s operating agencies have announced their random drug and alcohol testing rates for 2022.  The random test rates did not change, except for maintenance-of-way workers under the Federal Railway Administration’s regulations.

Agency 2022 Random Drug Testing Rate 2022 Random Alcohol Testing Rate

Federal Aviation Administration

25% 10%

Federal Motor Carrier

Although both medicinal and now recreational consumption of marijuana have been legalized in California, this legalization did not impact an employer’s right to discipline or even terminate employees for marijuana use. That could change for medical marijuana users if a bill pending before the California legislature becomes law.  To read the rest of this article,

An employer that refused to hire an applicant based on a positive pre-employment drug test was entitled to summary judgment on the applicant’s race discrimination and civil conspiracy claims despite the applicant’s argument that the company safety officer cancelled his split specimen drug test due to discriminatory animus, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals

Ohio’s new medical marijuana law becomes effective on September 6, 2016, although it may take up to two years for implementing regulations to be written and for dispensaries and the patient registry to become operational. House Bill 523, the “Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program,” allows people with certain medical conditions, upon the recommendation of a

The Montana Supreme Court has upheld against a state constitutional challenge the State’s 2011 Montana Marijuana Act, a new statutory framework embodying the State’s effort to limit abuses resulting from the 2004 Medical Marijuana Act, which was established by voter initiation. Montana Cannabis Industry Ass’n v. The State of Montana, 2016 Mont. LEXIS 168 (Feb.

Employees subject to U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) drug and alcohol testing regulations may have limited privacy interests in their positive drug and alcohol test results of their positive drug and alcohol tests, according to a recent decision by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. McTimmonds v. Alcohol and Drug

Election Day 2014 saw Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia pass laws legalizing recreational marijuana.  Almost half the states in this country have laws permitting medical marijuana.  As state and local marijuana laws continue to proliferate, join us for an informative and timely 60-minute webinar addressing critical questions for employers, including:

  • How do these