A federal judge upheld an arbitrator's decision reinstating a New Jersey worker who was fired by County Concrete Corporation after testing positive for cannabis, in the case County Concrete Corporation v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 863. County Concrete appealed the arbitration outcome in January 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in Newark.
Federal judge upholds ruling reinstating New Jersey worker fired after cannabis test
A federal judge upheld an arbitrator's decision reinstating a New Jersey worker who was fired by County Concrete Corporation after testing positive for cannabis, in the case County Concrete Corporation v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 863. County Concrete appealed the arbitration outcome in January 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in Newark.
The employee worked at County Concrete Corporation in Kenvil, in Roxbury in Morris County, when the incident occurred, according to the court documents. He left work for his lunch break and drove past a manager who uses medical cannabis and who believed he smelled cannabis as the car passed. When he returned from lunch, he was required to take a drug test, which he failed.
The union and the worker's lawyer argued he was not impaired. Beard Brothers Media reported he was reinstated because there was "no slurred speech, no glassy eyes, no performance issues, and no observed impairment." Teamsters Local 863 backed him in a process known as arbitration, which ruled in his favor.
New Jersey's legalization law, the Cannabis Regulatory and Enforcement and Marijuana Modernization Act (CREAMMA), established that workers could not be fired for solely getting high, according to the source. The source states that legal precedent needed to be established in courts for that protection to be respected.
The source states there is no cannabis equivalent of an alcohol breathalyzer test, describing this as a recurring complaint of moderate politicians in Trenton. The source says the matter is complicated by the difference between appearing high at work and having used cannabis the night before, with the substance remaining in the system. According to Heady NJ, employers increasingly are respecting employees' right to consume cannabis responsibly after work, while federal marijuana prohibition complicates matters for employers more connected to or regulated by the federal government.
- The source does not name the employee who was fired or the judge who ruled.
- The source does not state the date of the federal court ruling, describing it only as recent, or the date of the arbitration decision.
- The source does not state the arguments County Concrete Corporation made in its appeal.
- The source does not state the dates of the drug test, the dismissal, or the reinstatement.
- The source does not state whether the employee returned to work or what remedy, if any, was ordered.
- The source does not state the case number or the name of the arbitrator.