The Colorado Supreme Court recently upheld an employer’s right to terminate an employee who tests positive for marijuana at work when the employee is legally allowed to partake of marijuana off-duty. See Coats v. Dish Network LLC, 2015 Colo. 44 (2015). In Colorado, employees are protected by a legal off-duty statute that prohibits an employer from terminating an employee for engaging in legal activity off-duty.[i] Colorado legally allows for the medical use of marijuana.[ii] The intersect of these two laws, combined with an employer’s drug policies, provided for some uncertainty for Colorado employers. The Coats decision has cleared up any confusion.
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