In May 2023, a federal judge for the US District Court for the District of New Jersey ruled that the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act (“CREAMMA”) does not provide for a private right of action. Specifically, US District Judge Christine P. O’Hearn determined in Zanetich v. Wal-Mart Stores East, Inc., et al that employees cannot sue their employers for alleged violations of CREAMMA.
In short, the court decided that only the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (the “CRC”) has the authority to enforce CREAMMA, leaving employees without the ability to bring individual suits under the law.
This ruling could have significant implications for employer liability under CREAMMA.
CREAMMA Explained
As we previously reported, CREAMMA provides anti-discrimination protections for employees who use cannabis recreationally and imposes strenuous requirements on New Jersey employers who conduct drug testing for the presence of cannabis in an individual’s system. By law, employers are allowed to ban the use or possession of cannabis in the workplace, but they are forbidden from taking an adverse action against an employee solely because the employee tests positive for cannabis use or the employer is informed of an employee’s cannabis use outside of the workplace.
The Case at Hand
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