Since 1998, the Washington State Medical Use of Marijuana Act has provided an affirmative defense against criminal prosecution of physicians for prescribing medical marijuana and of qualified patients for their medical use of marijuana. A woman under the pseudonym of Jane Roe who suffered from debilitating migraine headaches received authorization from a Washington doctor to use medical marijuana, and upon receiving this authorization Roe began using medical marijuana in compliance with MUMA. In 2006, a company called TeleTech offered Roe a job as a customer service representative, contingent on, among other things, her passing a drug test. Roe informed TeleTech of her use of medical marijuana and offered to provide the company with a copy of her authorization. TeleTech declined. Roe took the drug test and started training at TeleTech while the results were pending … and I think you can see where this is going. Not surprisingly, Roe failed the drug test. Perhaps more surprisingly, TeleTech promptly terminated her fledgling employment, telling her that the company’s drug policy did not make an exception for medical marijuana. Roe then filed Roe v. TeleTech, arguing that (a) MUMA provides a private cause of action against an employer who discharges an employee…
