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Spotlight on Marijuana and Employment

Insurance impacts: Workers compensation

Workers compensation insurance generally offers the exclusive remedy for employee injuries sustained during the scope of their employment. There are at least two workers compensation issues to consider related to marijuana:

Does workers compensation cover a workplace accident in which the injured employee tested positive for marijuana? THC persistence complicates this question, and state courts have differed on this issue, depending on the individual details of each case. For example, in 2015 the Ohio 5th District Court of Appeals found that an injured worker was eligible for workers compensation benefits despite failing a drug test after the accident. The court ruled, in part, that the worker was eligible unless his marijuana use was the proximate cause of injury.

Does workers compensation cover medical marijuana expenses incurred by an injured employee? Similarly, states differ on this question – some say that medical marijuana reimbursement is permitted, some that it is prohibited, and some are silent on the matter. Courts have also come to different conclusions – some have found that workers compensation can reimburse medical marijuana expenses, others that it can’t.