Scholl v. Compass Group USA, Inc.

Background

Christopher Scholl was a certified medical-marijuana patient under New York’s medical-marijuana program. He expressed interest in working for Eurest Services, Inc., which provides food and facilities services to corporate offices and is owned by Compass Group USA, Inc. Scholl told a Eurest manager that he had a medical-marijuana certificate. He later applied for a position, received an offer conditioned on passing a drug test, failed the test, and was not hired.

Scholl sued under the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) and the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL). He alleged that the defendants denied him employment and refused to provide a reasonable accommodation because he was a certified medical-marijuana patient. The defendants moved for partial summary judgment—judgment without a trial when no genuine dispute of important fact exists—on only the NYCHRL claim.

Court’s Analysis

The court held that the NYCHRL does not recognize being a certified medical-marijuana patient, by itself, as a protected disability. The court relied on a New York appellate decision holding that state law defines medical-marijuana-patient status as a protected disability, but the City law does not. The court also noted that the City law defines disability as a physical, medical, mental, or psychological impairment, while medical-marijuana certification is a legal classification rather than such an impairment.

Scholl argued that the defendants should have allowed him to use medical marijuana as an accommodation for chronic back pain. The court found that his complaint repeatedly identified his disability as his status as a certified medical-marijuana patient, rather than back pain. The complaint did not allege that the defendants denied him employment because of back pain or knew that he had back pain. The court also considered Scholl’s discovery decisions and concluded that he had consistently litigated the case on the theory that the certification itself was the disability.

Ruling

The court concluded that no genuine issue of material fact existed and that the defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law on Scholl’s NYCHRL claim. Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil granted the motion for partial summary judgment. The court stated that the case must proceed to trial on Scholl’s NYSHRL claim and ordered the parties to submit pretrial filings and report on possible mediation or a settlement conference.