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US citizen denied a job for using medical marijuana

Derek Gsell, a US citizen and medical marijuana cardholder, was denied a job due to testing positive for THC.

Christine Elzer, his attorney, is working on the case in the hope of finding justice.

It is her, and Gsell’s stance, that authorised medical marijuana users should not be denied a job based on such grounds.

She believes that her client should have felt confident undergoing drug testing, but despite doing nothing wrong, he received a letter from the company informing him of the news.

Gsell was applying for the position of Supplier Quality Engineer.

Based on the drug testing results, the company decided to withdraw the offer.

Elzer is aware that the Pennsylvanian law gives employers legal grounds to refuse to hire or discharge an individual based on them being a medical marijuana user.

The law was passed in 2016.

Industry experts, though, are arguing that the case is not as clear-cut as it seems, because it is a matter of state versus federal law.

Elzer believes that employers are betting on federal law.

According to federal law, marijuana is a Schedule One substance, which places it side-by-side with dangerous, addictive drugs, such as heroin.

A possible reason for employers having such strict policies is that they don’t want to go against it, even though the local laws may state otherwise.

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