Vermont medical marijuana user fired after drug test, appeal against unemployment benefits fails – NECN

A Vermont man who was fired after a drug test revealed he had used medical marijuana while on duty for chronic pain has lost his appeal over unemployment benefits in the Vermont Supreme Court.

Ivo Skoric, representing himself, told the judges at his May hearing that he had been legally prescribed medical cannabis by a doctor and that his work performance was not affected by the drug. On January 9, 2023, he was fired from his part-time job cleaning and refueling buses at the Marble Valley Regional Transit District in Rutland for misconduct following a drug test.

His job was a “safety-sensitive” position and he was required to have a commercial driver's license and occasionally drive buses, the Supreme Court wrote. Following the drug test results, he was fired for violating U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Transit Administration regulations, the court wrote.

Skoric appealed to the state after being found ineligible for unemployment benefits. However, the Vermont Employment Security Board agreed with an administrative law judge and held that Skoric had behaved in a manner prohibited by the employer's drug and alcohol policy and that because he was fired for misconduct, he was not entitled to those benefits.

In May, he told the Supreme Court justices that he should not have to choose between public benefits and the health care the state provides him. The ACLU of Vermont, which also represents Disability Rights Vermont and Criminal Justice Reform, also argued that he should not be denied benefits.

Skoric sought a declaratory judgment on whether the misconduct disqualification also applied to medical cannabis use outside of work hours, but the state denied it. In its decision Friday, the Vermont Supreme Court said the Department of Labor “properly refrained from issuing a declaratory judgment on this matter,” noting that “his violation of written workplace policy constitutes an independent source of disqualifying misconduct.”

Skoric said on Friday that the Supreme Court's decision did not address the merits of his case.

“There is no debate as to whether a Vermont employee who uses medical cannabis has the right to use cannabis outside of work hours,” he said by email.