Medical Marijuana Card Does Not Bar Firefighter’s Suspension, Florida Court Says

A first responder plans to take his case to the Florida Supreme Court after an appeals court found that his medical marijuana use was not cool under federal law and a collective bargaining agreement.

“In the end, this appeal is not a referendum on medical marijuana, but rather a reminder that courts do not rule on intuition or based on popular sentiments, and they do not govern at all,” Florida’s 2nd District Court of Appeals wrote in its July 29 opinion.

The appeals court said a Hillsborough Circuit Court judge had vastly overreached in 2024 by allowing Tampa-area firefighter and paramedic Angelo Giambrone to be reinstated to his job. Giambrone was placed on unpaid leave in 2019 after a random drug test showed cannabis compounds in his system.

Giambrone sued, pointing out that he held a state-sanctioned medical marijuana card and his doctor had recommended THC for post-traumatic stress, anxiety and sleep disorders. The trial court judge noted that no evidence showed that Giambrone was actually using the drug at work, he did not have any performance evaluations that alleged impairment, and the marijuana card is essentially a prescription, allowed under the fire department’s collective bargaining agreement.

But the 2^nd District Court of Appeals disagreed, finding that a card is not the same as a doctor’s prescription, and that the fire department employees’ bargaining agreement clearly provides for drug testing and prohibits drug use and being under the influence. And state law does not allow employers to violate federal law, Appeals Court Judge Suzanne Labrit noted in the opinion.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier had weighed in on the subject, submitting an amicus brief to the appeals court. He said the state has an interest in following federal law and ensuring that paramedics’ cognitive abilities are not impaired while trying to save lives, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Giambrone’s attorney, Michael Minardi, pointed out that the U.S. Department of Justice this spring reclassified medical marijuana as a less-dangerous Schedule 3 substance, making the federal-law argument moot. His client now plans to appeal the decision to the state’s highest court, setting the stage for what could be a landmark decision affecting workplaces around the state, the Times reported.

The 2nd DCA opinion emphasized that the decision should be considered a narrow one, focused on the interaction between Florida’s medical weed law and the bargaining agreement, and is not necessarily applicable to other employers and employees.

Still, it’s the latest case that highlights the conflict between federal law, state law, and “zero-tolerance” workplace drug policies, as well as workers’ compensation benefits cases. In 2020, a high school teacher in Belleview, Florida, made headlines around the state when he was suspended then fired after a drug test showed THC in his system.

The test was ordered after the teacher was injured at school, filed a comp claim, and he visited a doctor. Like Giambrone, the teacher held a medical marijuana card. The teacher, a former U.S. Marine, said a physician had recommended the substance for his PTSD.