Pubdate: Mon, 17 Mar 2014
Source: Morning Sun (Mt. Pleasant, MI)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Contact:   http://www.themorningsun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3938

NO JOBLESS AID FOR FIRED POT USERS

(AP) - Michigan's leading business group is urging the state appeals 
court to rule out jobless benefits for people who are fired for using 
medical marijuana.

The appeals court has cases pending involving people who sought 
benefits after being dismissed. Judges in Kent and Ingham counties 
have ruled in favor of the workers, while the Michigan Chamber of 
Commerce has filed a friend-of-the-court brief seeking to uphold the 
right of employers to fire employees for marijuana.

"The Michigan Chamber is seeking a reversal of the lower court's 
decision because it puts employers in a no-win situation," group 
chief executive Rich Studley said in a statement. "If the circuit 
court's ruling is allowed to stand, employers will be forced to 
either ignore known drug use and jeopardize workplace safety or 
discharge those employees and pay their unemployment benefits and, 
subsequently, higher unemployment taxes."

The appeals court hasn't set a date for arguments. The cases involve 
a forklift driver in Grand Rapids and a hospital employee in 
Charlotte. The plaintiffs said they shouldn't be denied benefits 
after losing their jobs for using marijuana legally.

In Ingham County, Jenine Kemp was fired from her job as a CT scan 
technician at Hayes Green Beach Memorial Hospital after a drug test 
in 2011 revealed marijuana. Kemp, who has a state-issued medical 
marijuana card, said she uses marijuana in food outside work hours to 
relieve chronic pain from lupus, which attacks joints, and other ailments.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom