Fired medical marijuana users eligible for unemployment benefits after court ruling

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DETROIT, MI -- The Michigan Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from the Unemployment Insurance Agency in a case involving benefits for people fired from jobs over medical marijuana use.

The denial means people with medical marijuana cards who lost work after failing drug tests will continue to be eligible for unemployment benefits, based on an October 2014 appeals court ruling.

The Unemployment Insurance Agency appealed lower court decisions out of Macomb and Ingham counties that reversed rulings from the Michigan Compensation Appellate Commission that said fired workers were disqualified from jobless benefits.

The state appeals court in one consolidated decision upheld those rulings.

"Claimants tested positive for marijuana and would ordinarily have been disqualified for
unemployment benefits under MESA (Michigan Employment Security Act), however, because there was no evidence to suggest that the positive drug tests were caused by anything other than claimants' use of medical...

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