Vermont medical marijuana user fired after drug test loses appeal 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
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
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