There are many (some argue too many) federal and state laws that govern how employers may and may not treat applicants and employees. Their purpose, generally, is to ensure that employment is made available based on an applicant's or employee's merit – that is, his or her ability to do the job required – rather than other irrelevant criteria, such as an applicant or employee's "race, color, sex, religion, national origin, physical or mental limitations, or age."
One such exception in North Carolina, however, has nothing to do with that: North Carolina's lawful use of lawful products law.
It is NOT designed to ensure that an employer avoids discrimination, harassment, or retaliation based on the person's characteristics, but rather to protect an applicant or employee's right to use "lawful products" in a "lawful" way – specifically "if the activity occurs off the premises of the employer during nonworking hours and does not adversely affect the employee's job performance or the person's ability to properly fulfill the responsibilities of the position in question or the safety of other employees." The exception in question has existed since 1992.
The law has taken on new relevance in recent years because of changes in the law regarding hemp and hemp-derived cannabidiol ("CBD") products and the presence in them of tetrahydrocannabinol ("THC"). Those changes mean that employers now have to consider applicants'...
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