Current:Home > ScamsVermont medical marijuana user fired after drug test loses appeal over unemployment benefits -StockHorizon
Vermont medical marijuana user fired after drug test loses appeal over unemployment benefits
View
Date:2025-04-14 12:54:11
A Vermont man who was fired from his job after he said a random drug test showed he used medical marijuana while off duty for chronic pain has lost his appeal to the Vermont Supreme Court over unemployment benefits.
Ivo Skoric, representing himself, told the justices at his hearing in May that he is legally prescribed medical cannabis by a doctor and that his work performance is not affected by the medicine. On Jan. 9, 2023, he was terminated from his part-time job cleaning and fueling buses at Marble Valley Regional Transit District in Rutland for misconduct after a drug test.
His job was a “safety sensitive” position, and he was required to possess a commercial driver’s license and operate buses on occasion, the Supreme Court wrote. After the results of the drug test, he was terminated for violating U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Transit Administration regulation, the court wrote.
Skoric appealed to the state after he was found to be ineligible for unemployment benefits, but the Vermont Employment Security Board agreed with an administrative law judge, saying that Skoric engaged in conduct prohibited by the employer’s drug and alcohol policy and that because he was discharged for misconduct, he was disqualified from those benefits.
He told the Supreme Court justices in May that he should not have to choose between state benefits and the medical care the state granted him to use. The ACLU of Vermont, also representing Disability Rights Vermont and Criminal Justice Reform, also argued the benefits should not be denied.
Skoric sought a declaratory ruling on whether the misconduct disqualification applied to the off-duty use of medical cannabis, but the state declined to provide one. In its decision Friday, the Vermont Supreme Court said that the Labor Department “properly declined to issue a declaratory ruling” on the matter, noting that “his violation of written workplace policy stood as an independent source of disqualifying misconduct.”
Skoric said Friday that the Supreme Court’s decision did not address the merits of his case.
“It does not discuss whether an employee who is medical cannabis patient in Vermont has the right to use cannabis in the off-hours,” he said by email.
veryGood! (55667)
Related
- Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
- 18-year-old in Idaho planned to attack more than 21 churches on behalf of ISIS, feds say
- Former Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías charged with five misdemeanor domestic violence counts
- 18-year-old in Idaho planned to attack more than 21 churches on behalf of ISIS, feds say
- Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
- Conan O'Brien returns to 'The Tonight Show' after 2010 firing: 'It's weird to come back'
- Fuerza Regida announces Pero No Te Enamores concert tour: How to get tickets, dates
- People are sharing their 'funny trauma' on TikTok. Why experts aren't convinced.
- Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
- Ohio’s DeWine focuses on children in his State of the State address
Ranking
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
- The Daily Money: Inflation across the nation
- EPA announces first-ever national regulations for forever chemicals in drinking water
- Hank Aaron memorialized with Hall of Fame statue and USPS stamp 50 years after hitting 715th home run
- Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
- Texas Attorney General sues to stop guaranteed income program for Houston-area residents
- Prince William Shares First Social Media Message Weeks After Kate Middleton’s Health Update
- Former Ohio utility regulator, charged in a sweeping bribery scheme, has died
Recommendation
Grammy nominee Teddy Swims on love, growth and embracing change
Internet providers must now be more transparent about fees, pricing, FCC says
Mama June Shares How She’s Adjusting to Raising Late Daughter Anna Chickadee Cardwell’s 11-Year-Old
Right to abortion unlikely to be enshrined in Maine Constitution after vote falls short
Alex Murdaugh’s murder appeal cites biased clerk and prejudicial evidence
More than half of foreign-born people in US live in just 4 states and half are naturalized citizens
North Dakota woman who operated unlicensed day care is sentenced to 19 years in baby’s death
Oliver Hudson Admits to Cheating on Wife Erinn Bartlett Before They Got Married