legal words
Accommodating the Use of Medical
Marijuana in the Workplace
AVOIDING DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY
By Allison E. MacIsaac
As the use of medical marijuana becomes more prevalent,
employers are encouraged to place a high priority on
ensuring they meet their legal obligations towards em-ployees
requiring the use of medical marijuana, and, in
particular, their duties towards such employees.
ACCOMMODATING MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE
The obligation to accommodate the use of medical mari-juana
arises under human rights legislation, which protects
individuals in the workplace from discrimination on the basis of
disability. Employers are required to accommodate an individual’s
disability to the point of undue hardship. In the case of medical
marijuana, this accommodation may include allowing individuals
to use marijuana in situations where such use would otherwise
be prohibited.
This means that employers and service providers may be deal-ing
with an increasing number of requests regarding the use of
medical marijuana on their premises, but the end solution for such
requests is not completely clear-cut. Human rights tribunals have
generally explored these issues in the context of service providers.
In Gibson v. Ridgeview Restaurant Limited, the Human Rights
Tribunal of Ontario found that an applicant was not discriminat-ed
against due to marijuana use. The applicant was told not to
smoke in close proximity to a restaurant’s entrance and was then
told not to return to the restaurant when he did so. The applicant
failed to establish a disability-related need to smoke marijuana
7 pips/Shutterstock.com
HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA ❚ APRIL 2017 ❚ 13
