Canada: Court overturns employee dismissal for cannabis use

A company in Ontario, Canada, was forced by the Court to return the employment of an employee accused of using cannabis during working hours, and still having to refund his wages retroactively.

The story goes back to the end of last year. two workers from Bombardier Transportation, a Canadian transport company, were fired following a complaint from a supervisor, who allegedly had seen employees using cannabis on a break from work.

The supervisor's report described that he had seen the workers outdoors, during an afternoon break, and that he had smelled a strong odor of cannabis coming from that direction, and that they would be finishing smoking at the time. The supervisor also claimed that one of the workers threw something on the floor when he approached them, but that he could not find anything to corroborate his version.

Despite the lack of physical evidence, the human resources department heard from both workers, who denied using cannabis in the workplace. In the event that the company resorted to a drug test to verify the employees' version, one of the workers claimed that his result would certainly be positive, as he used medical cannabis to help with sleep problems. Regardless of the facts found by the company, the final decision was the dismissal of both workers.

Company failed to prove just cause

After a few months, and despite the fact that one of the workers still has his case pending in court, one of the employees has already been readmitted to the company, after the responsible judge considered that there was no just cause for the dismissal. Bombardier Transportations was thus obliged to restore the former employee's employment, as well as to guarantee his seniority in the company's staff, also having to pay wages for the period between his dismissal and the court's decision. 

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“It has become apparent that current tests for cannabinoids are unable to demonstrate either cognitive impairment or recent consumption”[/perfectpullquote]

The defendant "was not seen smoking, inhaling or disposing of drugs or paraphernalia," Judge Paul Craven told TB News Watch, further stating that Bombardier Transportations failed to prove the offense that would have caused the employee's dismissal.

However, the judge warned that, in addition to the lack of evidence, this case raises an important issue in a country that is on the verge of legalizing cannabis for recreational purposes, which is the inability to accurately determine what the impact on the individual's cognitive part is. (who presumably used cannabis) at the time the test is performed.

“It has become apparent that current tests for cannabinoids are unable to demonstrate either cognitive impairment or recent consumption,” said the judge, who added that companies such as Bombardier should “consider other strategies to deal with reduced cognition. related to cannabis use, as well as alternative approaches to internal employee cannabis use policy”.

Ultimately, this case brings up an important discussion, which is the use of cannabis in countries where it is already legal for therapeutic purposes — such as Canada — and the drug tests that come back positive in workers who are patients. and who use it for medicinal purposes.

With Canada preparing to legalize recreationally at the federal level, scheduled for the middle of this year, questions loom over whether companies can hire candidates who are potential cannabis users, but the fact is that labor policies are increasingly leaning towards protection of workers who use the plant for medicinal purposes.
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Featured Photo: DR (taken from the website merryjane.com)