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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Posts
    1

    Default Getting Unemployment After Termination for Positive Drug Test

    My question involves unemployment benefits for the state of: California

    1) I had an accident "on the job".

    2) While at a clinic, for treatment for my work related injuries, I was asked to submit to a drug test.

    3) A week later my employer tells me that they have to terminate me. They tell me it's because the drug test came up positive for Marijuana.

    4) Like the honest idiot I am, I admitted to my employer that I sometimes do use pot on the weekends. With that said, I also explained to my employer, that I have never reported to work intoxicated or under the influence AND that my accident "on the job" had nothing to do with drug use.

    5) My employer has me sign my termination paperwork and uniform paperwork.

    6) An hour later, I look, again, at the termination paperwork I signed. Missed by me, the first time around, is a check-marked item, under reason for termination, that states: Intoxication (alcohol/drugs).

    7) I make an amendment to the termination form and hand write. "I object to the below. I was not intoxicated on the job". I draw an an arrow to the checked-marked item and write my initials next to it. I scan the form and upload it to an e-mail. I discuss, many of the points I've cited (above), here, and send the e-mail to my employer. I ask my employer to please send a reply to acknowledge that they received the e-mail

    8) Thus far, I have not received an e-mail reply from my employer.

    Questions:

    a) Am I now subject to having to pay for my work related injury clinic bills (because of the drug test I failed)? Please know I still have appointments pending.

    b) If I file for unemployment, what are my chances of receiving benefits?

    c) When I apply for work elsewhere, and have my last job listed on my resume, is my previous employer allowed to state why I was terminated?

    d) Did my employer break any California laws in terminating me the way that they did? (Again, I have absolutely NEVER been under the influence or intoxicated while "on the job").

    e) How important is it for me to make sure that I receive an e-mail reply from my employer?

    Regarding my title line: "Was Terminated Because Trace Amounts of Marijuana Were Found in My System" Please know that I stated "trace amounts" because that's what I believe the levels would be. The "on the job" accident and subsequent drug testing, both, occurred on a Friday. The last time I used pot was on the prior Saturday.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: Was Terminated Because Trace Amounts of Marijuana Were Found in My System

    a.) Maybe. That will be up to the workers comp carrier.

    b.) No idea. But definitely file. If you do apply, you may or may not get benefits; if you don't apply, you definitely won't.

    c.) Yes.

    d.) Not as long as the drug testing was managed in accordance with CA state laws, and nothing you have posted suggests that it wasn't.

    e.) Not important at all

    You may not have USED anything in the workplace, but you still had it in your system at work and you had an accident. Try proving you were not "under the influence" with that set of facts. I'm not saying you were or weren't; I'm saying you won't be able to effectively prove that you weren't.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    CT & IL
    Posts
    5,273

    Default Re: Was Terminated Because Trace Amounts of Marijuana Were Found in My System

    Look, if its an important contact you want to make with your employer, why are you sending an email? Send a letter to their registered agent.

    Not smart to sign anything upon your termination unless you get something in return for your signature.

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