# Walmart fires employee for medical marijuana.



## Herm (Mar 9, 2010)

hxxp://www.wwmt.com/articles/margin-1373603-bottom-mich.html



> In Battle Creek, a cancer patient recently lost his job for using marijuana that he had been cleared to use.
> 
> Joe Casias has been battling sinus cancer for ten years, but the chronic pain had gotten so bad that Casias decided to try medical marijuana, it was a decision that cost Casias his job.
> 
> ...


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## nouvellechef (Mar 9, 2010)

Wow.


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## 2Dog (Mar 9, 2010)

what kind of person could fire someone with cancer who had earned empoyee of the year?!?!:angrywife:  :hairpull: :hitchair: :confused2: :rant: :argue:


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## The Hemp Goddess (Mar 9, 2010)

2Dog said:
			
		

> what kind of person could fire someone with cancer who had earned empoyee of the year?!?!:angrywife:  :hairpull: :hitchair: :confused2: :rant: :argue:



Wal-Mart


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## loolagigi (Mar 9, 2010)

woweeeee! i used to work for them when i was a teenager. hated it!


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## fellowsped (Mar 9, 2010)

wal-mart don't care about anyone that works for them.  Doesn't matter how hard you work for them they care more about their "image" than their employees.  Anyways don't get me going on those evil mother...


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## PieRsquare (Mar 9, 2010)

I never went to work under the influence of pot, said Casias. I was always focused 100 percent on the job at hand.

However, in the blink of an eye, that job was gone.

I was called into the office and was terminated because I failed my drug screen for medical marijuana, said Casias.

The State of Michigan says Casias is allowed to use medical marijuana, and issued him a card, but Wal-Mart won't budge.

I feel strongly that I was wrongfully terminated, said Casias.

Newschannel 3 asked Wal-Mart for a comment, they wouldn't go on camera, but did send a response.

In a state such as Michigan, an employer can still enforce a policy that requires a termination of an employee following a positive screen.

John Targowski is a Kalamazoo attorney who has put the state's medical marijuana laws to the test, however he doesn't see much hope in Casias' case.

If a workplace has a ban on all drugs under federal law, they may not be protected, said Targowski. I want to be optimistic, but several state courts have not granted medical marijuana users the right to have a job.
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There's the rub. It's still a Federal crime. Walmart can and did fall back on the fact that it's a federal crime. It doesn't have to, but it's allowed to. I think perhaps the Name of the country should be changed from "United States of America" to just "The States of America". It seems that we aren't "United" about much at all. The status of Marijuana needs to be changed at a Federal level. Until it is, this type of willy-nilly legal flip-flopping will exist and people like this guy will suffer the results.


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## loolagigi (Mar 9, 2010)

states of america......


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## Hick (Mar 10, 2010)

HA!.. I'm just surprised that they didn't just take out a life insurance policy on him


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## the chef (Mar 10, 2010)

Got fired from one fer smoking a cig while on the clock. A stupid rule that was instituted the day a supervisor came by. Three of us got fired on the spot! One of the best thing's that ever happened to me considering the shape of the stores now.


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## Irish (Mar 10, 2010)

now i suppose leo will come to his home at 3 AM for a smash, and grab of his grow? count on it...hope he realises this, once it was national news, and 'sanitized' his op, IF, he has one, and not instead thought on the lines of "i've got my card. i'm legal. they can't harm me further."

wanna bet buddy!!! mich is doing these ops daily, in all areas...it's as if a law was swept under the rug there...


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## The Effen Gee (Mar 10, 2010)

See?

This is exactly why I get so pissed when I hear of folks even shopping there.

Boycott wal mart.


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## leafminer (Mar 10, 2010)

YES. Boycott Walmart. Lousy, stinking, organisation.


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## legalize_freedom (Mar 10, 2010)

One more reason for me to not go in that god forbidden store!

Dank...I think you and I have similar oppinions on the way the laws are being treated here....it almost seems to me like they said it's legal so that people would register...now they are just going down the list busting them.

Either that...or someone failed to tell the cops that it's legal now.


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## Flyinghigh (Mar 12, 2010)

That just the beginning of people losing there jobs over a Medical Marijuana Use!!
I have a friend that works at walmart and he Not allowed to take pain pills at work for his 3 back surgery, matter of fact he had quite taking all meds because he had to drug test and says that walmart co. has a NO Zero Tolerance for Medication..

Myself I wouldn't work there because I WON'T Give up My MMJ WEED..


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## Shockeclipse (Mar 12, 2010)

I have often wondered how the law would affect that particular circumtance if we had mmj here.  I would hope the CO I work for would be level headed about it bu I see the same thing happening to me.  It should be wrongeful
termination if the State says it's legal.  If WalMarx doesn't like I them close their stores there.


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## Barbapopa (Mar 14, 2010)

I was going to post this article as well.  Please make sure to tell everyone you know to stop shopping at Walmart.  They do not deserve a dime of your hard earned cash.  Treat people with respect and dignity.  Man this story really pisses me off.


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## smokingtoke420 (Mar 14, 2010)

thats just wrong


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## Irish (Mar 15, 2010)

at 3:30 PM Sunday, March 14th, members of the MMMA, mich med. mj assoc. protested walmart by picketing thier firing of joe casias, over mmj issues as stated above. 

whoever it was that said greg francisco isnt doing enough for michigan mmj patients, i got this to say to you, "theres only so many hours in a day any man can work, and greg has paid his dues brothers, and will fight for our rights in every way concievable"...

greg is the founder of the MMMA, and he cares for our rights. this cat will stand up in the face of adversity...

hows that for tooting a horn?...


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## Rosebud (Mar 16, 2010)

I don't go to Walmart and never will.


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## PieRsquare (Mar 18, 2010)

I don't have enough money to be picky. I shop at Walmart because I save a ton of money by doing so. Every dollar I save is one more I can use for something else I need.

I wish this guy luck in his case, but I don't think anyone is really going to stop using Walmart over this. If they do, they have more money than I do.

I've made the same runs to different stores. $100 at any other store will be $70 at Walmart. Sorry folks, I need that other $30.

A simple email to the Walmart Corporate offices would have told this guy that they don't honor MMJ, but continue their pee tests on a Federal basis. He really can't blame anyone but himself.

When he hired into Walmart, he knew they had pee tests. When he got his MMJ card, he should have checked it's status with Walmart through a neutral party that couldn't ID him to the store. Most lawyers have what is known as a "Callers Fee". They will make one phone call for you as your representative for X-dollars. He should have done so instead of relying on his guess that he was safe.

I mean no harm to the guy, but people who always blame someone else for their troubles piss me off. He gets the blame for this one. He should have checked. He didn't. He got busted.

Perhaps he'll check the next time. His very livelihood depends on it.


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## Hick (Mar 19, 2010)

I'm pretty sure that Cali' has tried this in their courts, and (again pretty sure) that at least for now... MMJ does not protect you in the workplace. 


> In 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that an employer does not violate California's Compassionate Use Act&#8212;which provides a defense to state criminal prosecution for prescribed medical use of marijuana&#8212;by firing, or refusing to hire, an individual who tests positive for marijuana, even when the drug is being used for medicinal purposes. Employers should review their drug use and testing policies to make sure they clearly prohibit the use of any drug that is illegal under federal, state or local law.


hxxps://www.hrtools.com/legal_compliance/how_do_state_medical_marijuana_laws_impact_workplace_drug_testing_programs.aspx
I 'know' what co law states... we're seeing the same "grey" areas that ca has/is encountered.


> The authors note that "The Act states that a qualifying patient "shall not be subject to any civil or administrative penalty, or denied any right or privilege" related to the medical use of marijuana, but it also explicitly provides that employers are not required "to accommodate the medical use of marijuana in any workplace.'" This is similar verbiage to some other state laws. (Colorado: "Nothing in this section shall require any employer to accommodate the medical use of marijuana in any work place." Rhode Island: "...employers are not required to make accommodations for employees who use medical marijuana." Montana: "Nothing ... may be construed to require an employer to accommodate the medical use of marijuana in any workplace." )


hxxp://www.workerscompinsider.com/2010/01/the-current-buz.html


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## AcesUp (Mar 19, 2010)

Sounds to me like his health insurance premiums were going up and Wally World found an "out".


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