Irony And Compassion

A published opinion of the New Jersey Appellate Court

Plaintiff appeals the dismissal, pursuant to Rule 4:6-2, of his action against his former employer, defendant Carriage Funeral Holdings, Inc. (Carriage), and others, based on, among other things, the Law Against Discrimination (LAD), N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 to -49. Plaintiff claims defendants’ unlawful discrimination arose from his use of medical marijuana, permitted by the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, N.J.S.A. 24:6I-1 to-16, as part of his cancer treatment. Critical to the issues presented, the Legislature’s declaration that an authorized medical-marijuana user may not be criminally prosecuted included a declaration that “nothing” in the Compassionate Use Act “require[s]” an employer to accommodate a medical marijuana user, N.J.S.A. 24:6I-14. Based on that provision, defendants argued– and the motion judge held – that plaintiff’s LAD action could not go forward. We disagree and hold that because the Compassionate Use Act declared it should not be construed to “require” an accommodation does not mean such a requirement might not be imposed by other legislation. N.J.S.A. 24:6I-14. In short, like the first law of thermodynamics, that provision – beyond its own limited criminal and regulatory context – neither creates nor destroys rights and obligations. So, we reject the essential holding that brings this matter here and conclude that the Compassionate Use Act’s refusal to require an employment accommodation for a user does not mean that the Compassionate Use Act has immunized employers from obligations already imposed elsewhere. It would be ironic indeed if the Compassionate Use Act limited the Law Against Discrimination to permit an employer’s termination of a cancer patient’s employment by discriminating without compassion. We reverse.

(Mike Frisch)