NOT THE SHARPEST KNIFE IN THE DRAWER: Secondhand Toke
Eastern District of New York Judge Jack B. Weinstein dismissed a lawsuit by John F. Kennedy International Airport baggage screener Leonard Sutera claiming that that the federal government violated his civil rights by not allowing him to challenge his termination for smoking dope in a hearing before “an independent tribunal”– he contends he was exposed to secondhand pot smoke - reports New York Law Journal:
On March 19, 2008, Sutera provided a urine sample for a random drug test and tested positive for marijuana. He later claimed the result was caused by secondhand smoke he had inhaled at a recent concert. A supervisor rejected that claim, and Sutera was fired. …
"This case presents the following issue: 'Can a government employee in a sensitive homeland defense position whose blood tested high for marijuana avoid being fired by testifying that he did not imbibe the drug, but absorbed it inadvertently from others smoking the substance?" Weinstein wrote. "The answer in this case is 'no.'"
Weinstein held that "due process in this context only requires notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard; plaintiff was afforded both."
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