Pubdate: Fri, 01 Apr 2016
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2016 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492

TOP COURT ASKED TO OVERTURN FIRING OF POT-SMOKING STATE WORKER

HARTFORD (AP) - A lawyer for a labor union urged the Connecticut 
Supreme Court on Thursday to rule that firing a state worker caught 
smoking marijuana in a state-owned vehicle while on the job was too 
harsh a punishment.

Gregory Linhoff was fired from his maintenance job at the University 
of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington in 2012 after a police 
officer caught him smoking pot. He had no previous disciplinary 
problems since being hired in 1998 and had received favorable job 
evaluations, according to his union. He was arrested, but the charges 
were later dismissed.

Mr. Linhoff appealed the discipline to an arbitrator, who ruled the 
firing was too extreme and said Mr. Linhoff instead should be 
suspended without pay for six months and subjected to random drug and 
alcohol testing for one year. The arbitrator said that while state 
rules and policies on drug and alcohol use allow for firing 
first-time offenders, they do not mandate it.

The state appealed to a Superior Court judge, who overturned the 
arbitrator's decision on the grounds that it violated Connecticut's 
laws and public policy against marijuana use. The Connecticut 
Employees Union Independent SEIU appealed the judge's ruling to the 
Supreme Court, which is expected to rule in a few months.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom