Amazon Fired NJ Employee For Using Medical Marijuana, Suit Claims

EDISON, NJ — A former Amazon warehouse employee in Edison is suing the company, claiming they fired him for taking medical marijuana and then worked to deny him unemployment benefits.

The employee, identified in court documents as D.J.C., said he attempted to inform Amazon and a third-party drug testing company about his status as a medical marijuana patient prior to taking the drug test but that he wasn't given the chance to do so. Once the failed drug test raised red flags, D.J.C. tried to show supervisors the medical marijuana card issued to him for an anxiety disorder, but was told he needed to have shown it before taking the test, the suit claims.

Amazon is accused of then telling the state D.J.C. was fired for "failing to show up for work," preventing him from accessing unemployment benefits in a "timely manner," the suit says.

A lawyer listed on court documents for Amazon did not immediately return Patch's request for comment.

D.J.C. was first hired at the Edison warehouse on Route 27 in November 2017. Up until the July 2018 drug test, D.J.C. was a good employee, the suit says; he was never disciplined and was given additional assignments as a "process guide" and an Amazon ambassador.

That changed on July 11, 2018, when D.J.C. was asked to submit to a random oral drug test, the suit claims. D.J.C. asked how to disclose a prescription medication, and a third-party tester allegedly said that information could be provided later. None of the forms D.J.C. was asked to fill out had a disclosure spot either, the suit claims.

About a month after giving the sample, D.J.C. was taken off the warehouse floor and brought to the front office, where he was fired for failing the drug test, the suit claims. It was during this meeting that D.J.C. showed his supervisor and an HR representative his medical marijuana card, issued by a doctor in Edison.

The supervisor and an HR representative stepped out of the room, and returned a few minutes later to say that D.J.C. was not fired, the suit claims, but would have to be placed on a temporary paid leave so he could have a certificate of fitness signed by a doctor.

Two days after that meeting, D.J.C. submitted paperwork signed by the doctor that prescribed his medical marijuana to certify that D.J.C. was able to return to work.

D.J.C. said he was never contacted by a case manager with Amazon, nor was he paid for the forced leave.

Five days after he was first fired and placed on leave, the suit says D.J.C. was contacted by his supervisor again and fired a second time for failing to disclose his medical marijuana use. Another week after that, an Amazon HR supervisor called to fire him for a third time, the suit claims.

At no point was D.J.C. allowed to properly document his anxiety or medical marijuana use, nor was he allowed to ask for any accommodations, the suit says.

After being fired, D.J.C. tried to apply for a job at Whole Foods, which is owned by Amazon, and was told his firing from the warehouse prevented his hiring at the grocery store. Six months after being fired, D.J.C. even tried to re-apply for the warehouse job, but was told the reason for his firing meant he could not be re-hired.

The suit was first filed in Middlesex County Superior Court earlier this month, before being moved to federal court. In the county filing, D.J.C. is seeking his job back, compensatory and punitive damages, and attorney's fees.