Although more than 300,000 Floridians have become medical marijuana users under the protection of the state’s laws, employers with operations in Florida have not had to contend with providing accommodations to employees who happen to be medical marijuana users. Anti-retaliation provisions in the state may soon be changing, with both chambers of the Florida Legislature currently considering proposed bills aimed at extending certain protections to Florida employees who are legal medical marijuana users. Both bills – H.B. 595 and S.B. 962 – collectively called the Medical Marijuana Employee Protection Act, would extend to both private- and public-sector employees and employment applicants in Florida. If passed, one of the new rights these bills would provide to employees is the right to sue an employer if the employer takes an adverse employment action due to an employee’s status as a legal medical marijuana user.
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