The Daily Populous Sunday August 25th, 2024 morning edition
Authored by abcnews.go.com and submitted by Silent-Resort-3076

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

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.

Rut_Row_Raggy on August 24th, 2024 at 23:26 UTC »

Same thing in Texas. Legal or not, you can not fail a DOT drug test.

bingold49 on August 24th, 2024 at 22:06 UTC »

I mean it sounds like he's losing his CDL because it falls under federal guidelines and without his CDL he cannot do his job. It's stupid but he also was probably well aware this could happen, just federally legalize this shit already so we can quit this in between phase, treat it like booze and move the fuck on.

Silent-Resort-3076 on August 24th, 2024 at 21:54 UTC »

> "Medical cannabis has been legal in Vermont since 2004. The state recently legalized adult-use marijuana as well. Now, all adults 21 and over can legally purchase cannabis from licensed dispensaries in Vermont."

Just a snippet.....

> "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."