Mark Neuberger Comments on Legal Cannabis Use Workplace Protections

Foley & Lardner LLP Of Counsel Mark Neuberger is quoted in the Bloomberg Law article, “Legal Cannabis Use Needs Workplace Protections, Some States Say,” about the recent push for new state laws to protect employees from adverse treatment from employers for legal cannabis use.

Most legislation surrounding employee protections for legal cannabis use is quite recent, and there remains a lack of both case law and clarity for a private right of action for unlawful sanctioning by their employer for legal cannabis use. While it remains unclear how state courts may rule on this issue, this could rapidly change in states that allow employees to sue their employers.

Neuberger said, “It’s cheap enforcement. If I have a new law and want to enforce it, I can hire more assistant state attorneys general to prosecute and investigate and Department of Labor investigators to go knock on doors. Or I can say, if you think your rights have been violated, go get a plaintiffs’ lawyer and hire them on a contingency basis.”