Recreational Marijuana

Maybe. In Hennesey v. Coastal Eagle Point Oil Co., 129 N.J. 81 (1992) the New Jersey Supreme Court concluded that random drug testing does not violate public policy or an employee’s right to privacy when there is a concern over safety.

Maybe.  New Jersey’s Workers Compensation Act covers personal injuries and death coming out of and in the course of employment.  However, the Act contains specific exceptions including for when intoxication and or the unlawful use of controlled dangerous substances are the cause of the injury or death.  If your workplace injury was caused by your intoxication, you may be denied workers compensation.

No, your employer cannot terminate you for using medical marijuana outside of work. The Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act (CUMMA) states it is unlawful to take any adverse employment action against an employee “solely on the employee’s status as a registrant” for medical marijuana. N.J.S.A.  24:6I-6.1.  Again, that does not mean an employer must allow an employee to use marijuana in the workplace or if the employee has a position that is safety sensitive. Wild v. Carriage Funeral Home, 241 N.J. 285 (2020).

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No. The proposed legislation from 2019 states that an employer cannot refuse to hire or employ any person or take an adverse action against any employee “because that person does or does not smoke or use marijuana items.”  The one exception is if the “employer has a rational basis for doing so which is reasonably related to the employment, including the responsibilities of the employee or prospective employee.”