Background
Angelo Giambrone, a firefighter-paramedic with Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, tested positive for marijuana during a random urine test in 2019. The County had no evidence that he used or possessed marijuana at work, was impaired on duty, or had performance problems associated with impairment. After the positive test, the County placed him on unpaid administrative leave.
Giambrone sued under the Florida Civil Rights Act and asserted wrongful-termination, policy-update, and breach-of-contract claims. The circuit court granted him summary judgment, awarded back pay and compensatory damages, and ordered the County prospectively to accommodate employees who present valid Florida medical-marijuana cards after positive tests when there is no evidence of on-duty use, possession, or impairment.
The Court’s Holding
The Second District reversed. It held that medical marijuana does not qualify as “Prescription or Nonprescription Medication” under the governing collective bargaining agreement. Florida medical marijuana is authorized through physician certification and dispensed by licensed treatment centers under a distinct statutory regime; it is not obtained through the pharmacist-centered prescription system incorporated into the agreement. Nor is it authorized for general distribution and use without a prescription. The medical-review officer therefore was not required to report Giambrone’s positive test as negative merely because he presented a medical-marijuana card.
The court also held that the circuit court improperly narrowed the agreement’s drug restrictions to on-duty conduct or demonstrated workplace impairment. The agreement prohibited drug use “at any time while employed” by Fire Rescue, except for alcohol or prescribed medications. Finally, neither Florida’s medical-marijuana constitutional amendment nor its implementing statute affirmatively requires employers to accommodate off-duty medical-marijuana use. The statute instead preserves employers’ authority to enforce drug-free-workplace policies and does not create a wrongful-discharge or discrimination cause of action against employers.
Key Takeaways
- A Florida medical-marijuana card is not a “prescription” under this collective bargaining agreement because medical marijuana is authorized and dispensed outside the statutory pharmacist-prescription system incorporated by the agreement.
- The agreement’s prohibition on drug use “at any time while employed” was not limited to workplace use or proof of contemporaneous impairment.
- Florida’s medical-marijuana provisions do not compel employers to create an accommodation exception to otherwise enforceable drug-free-workplace rules.
Why It Matters
The decision confirms that Florida authorization to use medical marijuana does not itself entitle an employee to an employment accommodation. For employees governed by a collective bargaining agreement, the precise definitions and testing provisions in that agreement can determine whether a medical-marijuana card excuses a positive result.
The court emphasized that its decision is narrow. It concerns Hillsborough County’s policies as applied to employees covered by this particular agreement and does not decide how employers operating under different agreements or workplace policies must address medical marijuana.