Medical Marijuana Job Seeker Cries Foul in Class Action After Butterball Refuses to Hire Him

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Butterball Medical Marijuana Job Seekers Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: A job seeker, and medical marijuana patient, lodged a class action lawsuit against Butterball, LLC. 
• Why: The plaintiff alleges the iconic poultry producer refuses to hire medical marijuana patients in violation of Arkansas state law.
• Where: The class action lawsuit is pending in Arkansas federal court.

Butterball LLC discriminated against job applicants because of their status as qualifying medical marijuana patients, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

Plaintiff Douglas Mohr claims he was unlawfully denied a job at Butterball solely because of his medical marijuana use away from work. Mohr says Butterball violated Amendment 98 to the Arkansas Constitution, which requires that “an employer shall not discriminate against” a job “applicant … based upon the applicant’s status as a qualifying [medical marijuana] patient.” 

Under Amendment 98, employers like Butterball can have a “drug testing program,” can decline to hire applicants based on use of drugs “on premises” and can decline to hire medical marijuana patients who fail a drug screen for drugs other than marijuana, according to the lawsuit. 

Employers can also decline to hire a medical marijuana patient for a “safety-sensitive position,” says Mohr, but employers cannot decline to hire a medical marijuana patient for a position not designated “safety-sensitive” simply on the basis of a positive marijuana test.

Class Action Claims Butterball Deprived Medical Marijuana Patients of Equal Employment Opportunities

Mohr says he received a job offer for a production associate position with Butterball in August. The position was not listed as safety-sensitive in writing on the application or on any other materials provided to the plaintiff. 

When Mohr reported for his drug test, the plaintiff informed the defendant that he was a medical

marijuana card holder and provided them a copy of his medical marijuana card. He says tested positive for marijuana and negative for all other drugs.

After viewing the plaintiff ’s test results, Butterball had Mohr escorted out of its facility and informed him he was no longer eligible for hire as a result of the positive drug test for marijuana.

He was thus denied employment for his status as a qualifying medical marijuana patient and was unable to find similarly paid employment for some time afterwards.

“Merely because defendant has a drug-testing policy and drug-free workplace does not mean defendant can decline to hire a medical marijuana patient for a position not designated in writing as safety-sensitive because of a positive marijuana test away from work,” the class action lawsuit says. 

Mohr wants to represent other Butterball employees and applicants who were denied employment in violation of Amendment 98 to the Arkansas Constitution.The plaintiff believes there are at least 40 but as many as 100 class members.

Mohr is requesting damages, as well as attorneys’ fees and costs, for himself and all Class Members. 

Medical marijuana patients have been taking legal action against companies who they say refused to hire them. 

Amazon is facing a class action alleging the online retailer fired or refused to hire 196 workers in New Jersey who tested positive for marijuana use after the substance was legalized in the state.

Stat Informatic Solutions, a healthcare information management company, broke the law by refusing to hire an Arkansas woman because of her status as a medical marijuana patient, a class action lawsuit filed this summer alleges. 

Have you been denied employment from Butterball due to medical marijuana use? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by Chris Burks of WH Law. 

The Butterball Medical Marijuana Employment Class Action Lawsuit is Mohr, et al. v. Butterball, LLC, Case No. 2:21-cv-02163-PKH, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, Fort Smith Division.

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