By Duke London
On Tuesday afternoon, a Superior Court judge in Rhode Island sided with a medical marijuana user who claimed a company decided not to hire her solely for her choice in medicine.
Three years ago, in the summer of 2014, Christine Callaghan applied for an internship at Darlington Fabrics in Westerly, near where she was finishing her graduate studies in textiles at the University of Rhode Island. When the company learned that Callaghan was a medical marijuana patient in the Ocean State, they chose not to bring her aboard — even though they had already extended an offer of employment.
Callaghan was a medical marijuana patient in Rhode Island for about two years before applying to Darlington Fabrics, using the medicine to combat frequent migraine headaches. Callaghan assured Darlington representatives that, though she needs the medicine to live pain-free, she would refrain from ever bringing her medicine on company premises or using it before coming into work.
The Savannah College of Art and Design graduate, with some help from the Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and pro bono Attorney Carly Beauvais Iafrate, sued Darlington Fabrics for employment discrimination, claiming that the textile company’s decision was a clear violation of the state’s medical marijuana laws.
According to Chapter 21-28.6 of Rhode Island’s medical cannabis laws:
(d) No school, employer, or landlord may refuse to enroll, employ, or lease to, or otherwise penalize, a person solely for his or her status as a cardholder.
The ACLU argued that because Darlington rescinded their offer of employment to Callaghan so late in the hiring process, she “was unable to find replacement summer employment, lost the benefit of a major networking opportunity with one of the only companies left in Rhode Island in her field, lost an important and unique experience that Defendants were offering, was forced to disclose her medical marijuana status to her professors, and her ability to graduate on time was placed into jeopardy as a result of having to try to find another internship at the last minute.”
Darlington Fabrics did not deny the claim, offering a rebuttal that the state’s marijuana laws handcuff companies into supporting a drug that is illegal at the federal level. Darlington Attorney Meghan Siket testified that the provision within the law doesn’t offer those who feel discriminated against the right to sue the hiring company.
Judge Richard Licht returned his decision on Tuesday and ruled in favor of Callaghan, citing that “there is only one sensible interpretation” of Rhode Island’s law.
Judge Licht also wrote:
[T]his practice would place a patient who, by virtue of his or her condition, has to use medical marijuana once or twice a week in a worse position than a recreational user. The recreational user could cease smoking long enough to pass the drug test and get hired . . . allowing him or her to smoke recreationally to his or her heart’s content. The medical user, however, would not be able to cease for long enough to pass the drug test, even though his or her use is necessary to “treat[] or alleviat[e] pain, nausea, and other symptoms associated with certain debilitating medical conditions.”
When asked to comment on the judge’s ruling, Callaghan said, “I would like to thank the ACLU and Carly for representing me in this matter, as without their aid I would have had no recourse. I am also thankful to Judge Licht for upholding my right to take medicine without fear of losing or being denied a job.”
Iafrate commented on the tremendous win by adding, “This decision sends a strong message that people with disabilities simply cannot be denied equal employment opportunities because of the medication they take. If employers were permitted to discriminate against those using medical marijuana, then the good work done by those to enact the law will be completely undone. The judge’s decision makes clear that this law is not an empty promise.”
