Medical marijuana discrimination case now in hands of judge

By: Rebecca Turco

Email: rturco@abc6.com

Twitter: @RTurcoABC6

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The fate of the URI graduate student who claims she was denied a job because she uses medical marijuana is now in the hands of a superior court judge.

Both sides wrapped up their arguments to Judge Richard Licht Tuesday, following a motion for summary judgment.

The Rhode Island ACLU lawsuit revolves around Christine Callaghan.

She claims that as a URI grad student in 2014, she was denied a paid internship at Darlington Fabrics in Westerly after revealing she had a medical marijuana card.

Rhode Island has a medical marijuana statute protecting cardholders from discrimination.

Carly Iafrate, Callaghan’s attorney, argued if the judge rules in favor of Darlington Fabrics, medical marijuana users may have to choose between not being in pain and keeping a job.

But the company argues it wasn’t discriminating, just following its drug-free policy. "If you’re treating everybody the same, whether they have a card or not, then you’re not discriminating against cardholders," said Meghan Siket, an attorney for the company.

Iafrate told the judge that’s by treating everyone the same, the company is in fact discriminating. She likens it to accommodating an employee who has a disability.

"[Medical marijuana users] have a protection, a job protection, that the ordinary drug user does not,” she explained. “So saying ‘We treat everybody the same’ is exactly what was not supposed to happen."

The company argues that because of heavy machinery and other hazards, they can’t make exceptions on drug use – medical or not. "There are many jobs for which there aren’t safety concerns and employers don’t drug test," Siket said.

This could be a potentially landmark discrimination case involving medical marijuana and the workplace. Licht expects the case to eventually move on to the Rhode Island Supreme Court.

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