Morning News Bentonville Arkansas
On Casias' behalf, state and national branches of the American Civil Liberties Union along with St. Joseph attorney Daniel Grow filed a lawsuit Tuesday morning in Calhoun County Circuit Court against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. alleging his wrongful termination in November.
Casias, 30, had undergone a routine drug screening after spraining his knee on the job. He was not under the influence of marijuana at the time, according to the lawsuit, but the urine screen later revealed the Calhoun County man had used marijuana sometime in the previous days or weeks.
He then told his employers he was registered in Michigan to use marijuana for chronic pain caused by an inoperable brain tumor and previous sinus cancer treatments, ACLU spokeswoman Rana Elmir said. At first his bosses told him that was fine, but shortly thereafter terminated his employment.
"I feel like I'm being treated like a felon," Casias said.
Wal-Mart called it an unfortunate situation but one that impacts its customer and associates' safety. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company issued a statement on the lawsuit Tuesday.
"As more states allow this treatment, employers are left without any guidelines except the federal standard," the company wrote. "In these cases, until further guidance is available, we will always default to what we believe is the safest environment for our associates and customers."
Casias and his attorneys argue Wal-Mart does not have the authority to overstep Michigan law. The law allows patients with certain chronic conditions to become registered with the state to grow, possess and use marijuana or designate a caregiver to help grow the medicinal plant.
"Wal-Mart is a very large corporation, but it is not above the law," ACLU of Michigan staff attorney Daniel Korobkin said.
The law does not protect workers who use the drug while on the job, but Casias and his attorney said he only used it at home after work. Casias said prescription painkillers made him nauseous, but marijuana relaxed him without uncomfortable side effects so that he had energy to work hard the next day.
Mary McCleary is Regent's Professor of Art Emeritus at Stephen F. Austin State University, where she taught from 1975 to 2005. Born in Houston, Texas in 1951, she received her B.F.A., cum laude in printmaking/drawing at Texas Christian University and her M.F.A. in graphics from the University of Oklahoma. Since 1970 she has participated in over 250 one-person and group exhibits in museums and galleries in 24 states, Mexico, and Russia. These venues include the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., MOBIA in New York City, the Grey Gallery at NYU, the Boston Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Contemporary Art Museum in Houston, the San Antonio Museum of Art, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City. She is also a recipient of a Mid-America Arts Alliance/National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship. Her work has been regularly reviewed or featured in the Houston Post, Houston Chronicle, Austin American Statesman, Dallas Morning News, and other Texas newspapers, as well as in national publications: Art in America, Art News, Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion, Art Papers, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Art Week, Artspace, Texas Homes, New American Paintings, and Contemporanea International Arts Magazine. McCleary's work is in many public collections including those of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, the El Paso Museum of Art, the San Antonio Museum of Art and the Art Museum of Southeast Texas in Beaumont.
More information can be found at www.marymccleary.com.
