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Colorado’s Supreme Court is considering whether employers may fire workers for using medical marijuana. Brandon Coats, the Plaintiff, was fired by Dish Network in 2010 from his job as a customer service representative. Coats is licensed by the state of Colorado to use medical marijuana which is legal in the state. Dish Network fired Coats after he tested positive for marijuana, a violation of Dish Network’s drug policy. Coats claims he never used nor was under the influence of marijuana while on the job. Coats sued Dish Network claiming that his termination violated Colorado’s Lawful Activities Statute. That statute prohibits an employer from discharging an employee for engaging in any lawful activity off work premises during nonworking hours. Coats acknowledges that medical marijuana is illegal under federal law, but argues that his use was nonetheless legal under state law and [...]

When an employee is injured while traveling for both business and personal purposes some states recognize a dual-purpose or dual-intent doctrine. The Ohio Supreme Court recently addressed the issue of whether the dual-purpose doctrine is applicable when determining eligibility for workers’ compensation in Ohio. The Court held that the dual-purpose doctrine does not apply in Ohio. Friebel v. Visiting Nurse Assn. of Mid-Ohio, Slip Opinion No. 2014 Ohio 4531. Ms. Friebel was employed by Visiting Nurse Association of Mid-Ohio (“VNA”) as an in-home nurse to provide services to VNA clients. Nearly every workday, Ms. Friebel traveled in her personal vehicle from her house to the patient’s home. On Saturday, January 22, 2011, Ms. Friebel decided to transport her children to a shopping center on the way to a patient’s home. Ms. Friebel’s car was struck from behind while stopped at [...]

Thousands of FedEx drivers all over the United States sued or are currently in the process of suing FedEx for classifying these drivers as “independent contractors”, as opposed to normal employees—and many are winning. Specifically, the FedEx Ground division offers small package pick-up and delivery services in the United States, through a network of nearly 32,500 FedEx-uniformed drivers. These workers all executed some type of “Pickup and Delivery Contractor Operating Agreement” (“OA”) with FedEx, which classifies these drivers as independent contractors and not employees. Accordingly, the OA allows FedEx to potentially save money in a number of areas, including: health benefits, unemployment insurances, retirement accounts, and overtime pay. In the majority of these actions, the Plaintiff-Drivers are alleging that they were misclassified as independent contractors when they were in fact employees; thus the Plaintiff-Drivers are seeking reimbursement of business expenses [...]