An Ocean City firefighter who may lose his job for being a registered medical marijuana patient cannot proceed with a lawsuit against the city until he undergoes a departmental hearing, a state judge has ruled.
If the case makes its way to court, it would likely to be the first of its kind in the state involving the legality of a pubic safety employee's use of medical marijuana. Another case, involving an NJ Transit employee who used medical marijuana, is pending.
Veteran firefighter Donald Brad Wiltshire sued Ocean City in February for discrimination and violating the whistleblower act after he disclosed he uses cannabis to manage a rare and painful muscular condition. The city suspended him in October with the intent to fire him for violating the fire department's drug testing policy, according to the lawsuit.
Last month, state Superior Court Judge J. Christopher Gibson, sitting in Cape May County, ruled that Wiltshire first must "exhaust the administrative process" by participating in a disciplinary hearing before he can sue.