CHARLESTON – A Kanawha County woman says she was wrongfully fired from her job after testing positive for marijuana despite having a medical cannabis card.
Lisa R. Daniels filed her complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court against DAL Global Services LLC and Jennifer Kuhn. DAL Global is a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.
According to her complaint, Daniels was hired by DAL Global as a customer service agent in 2012. She worked at the company’s Yeager Airport location in Charleston.
Daniels says she was classified as disabled under the state Human Rights Act and suffered from cervical and lumbar radiculopathy, fibromyalgia and spinal stenosis. Following an accident in 2016, Daniels says she suffered an accident that required her to have four surgeries in four years. She says all of that impaired her ability to perform manual tasks such as lifting and grasping with her hands.
She also says she couldn’t be prescribed opioids because of an allergy. In 2019, her doctor recommended she consider using medical marijuana to control her pain. She obtained an Ohio Medical Marijuana Card in June 2019.
In May 2020, Daniels says she began experiencing more pain because of her disabilities that further limited her ability to lift and grasp objects. Her doctor determined she needed to take a leave of absence from work and have another surgery.
Following her surgery and recovery, Daniels was cleared to return to work in October 2020. Because she had been off of work for more than 30 days, she had to supply a doctor’s note and undergo a drug test.
Before taking the drug test, Daniels notified Kuhn, who was her supervisor, to tell her she might test positive for cannabis because she still had to take it for chronic pain. She asked that the drug test be postponed, but the defendants refused and insisted she take the test.
Seven days after taking the test, Daniels was called by Kuhn to tell her she had tested positive for cannabis. Kuhn told Daniels to write a statement explaining the situation to be reviewed before she was terminated. Still, she was fired from the job.
“Defendants knew that Daniels used medical cannabis because of her disabilities,” the complaint states. “Defendants did not engage in a good faith effort to determine if defendants could accommodate Daniels’ disabilities.
“Daniels lawfully purchased and used the medical cannabis that resulted in her positive drug test. … Daniels did not pose any risk to the safety of customers or others due to her off-duty use of medical cannabis.”
She accuses the defendants of disability discrimination/failure to accommodate, disability discrimination/retaliation, West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act discrimination, wrongful discharge, violation of the state Safer Workplace Act, invasion of privacy and violation of the state Wage Payment and Collection Act.
In their answer filed last month, the defendants deny the allegations and seek to have the case dismissed.
Daniels says she has incurred loss of earnings and earning capacity, loss of health insurance, loss of flight privileges, loss of other benefits, pain and suffering, embarrassment, humiliation, loss of self-esteem, mental anguish and loss of life’s pleasures. She says she also has suffered other damages.
She seeks compensatory damages, general damages, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
Daniels is being represented by Kurt Entsminger, Phillip Estep and Scott Evans of Estep Entsminger Law Group PLLC in Charleston. The defendants are represented by Marla Presley and Laura Bunting of Jackson Lewis in Pittsburgh.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 21-C-650