Medical marijuana user fired after drug test loses appeal for 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 Supreme Court in Vermont on unemployment benefits.

Ivo Skoric, who is representing himself, told judges 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 drug. On January 9, 2023, he was fired from his part-time job cleaning and feeding buses at the Marble Valley Regional Transit District in Rutland for misconduct after a drug test.

His job was a “safety-sensitive” position and required him to hold a commercial driver’s license and operate buses occasionally, the Supreme Court wrote. After the drug test results, he was fired for violating U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Transit Administration regulations, the court wrote.

Skoric appealed to the state after he was found ineligible for unemployment benefits, but the Vermont Employment Security Board agreed with an administrative law judge, saying Skoric engaged in conduct prohibited by the employer’s drug policy and alcohol and that he was fired for misconduct, he was disqualified from those benefits.

He told Supreme Court justices in May that he should not have to choose between state benefits and the health care the state gave him. The ACLU of Vermont, which also represents Disability Rights Vermont and Criminal Justice Reform, also argued that the benefits should not be denied.

Skoric sought a declaratory judgment on whether the misdemeanor disqualification applies to off-duty use of medical cannabis, but the state declined to grant one. In its decision Friday, the Vermont Supreme Court said the Department of Labor “properly declined to issue a declaratory judgment” in the matter, noting that “his violation of the written workplace policy was an independent source of disqualification of the deviation”.

Skoric said Friday that the Supreme Court decision did not address the merits of his case.

“Whether an employee who is a medical cannabis patient in Vermont has the right to use cannabis outside of the schedule is not at issue,” he said via email.

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