ACLU statement on the Colorado Supreme Court decision regarding legal off-duty use of medical marijuana

June 16, 2015
“An employer has a legitimate interest in ensuring that employees are not impaired while on the job.  But an employer has no legitimate interest in worker’s off-the-job conduct that does not interfere with on-the-job performance.    When there is no impact on doing the job, a worker’s off-duty use of medical marijuana is none of the employer’s business and should not be grounds for termination.   We regret that the Colorado Supreme Court has upheld the firing of Mr. Coates.
“We urge the Colorado Legislature to fix this problem by making it clear in Colorado law that employees cannot be fired for off-duty conduct that is legal in this state and that does not impair their on-duty performance, including use of medical marijuana. “