In an ironic turn of events this week, the application of federal law benefited state-licensed cannabis businesses in Oregon—and potentially nationwide. Those involved with
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) is the law that, among other things, requires covered employees to be paid time-and-a-half for hours worked over 40 hours in a given week. As we have repeatedly said to anyone who will listen, the fact that cannabis remains federally illegal does not mean that cannabis employers can ignore federal employment (or any other) law. The case of Waxler v All Green Transport LLC, et al., currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan with case number 23-cv-00897, is a perfect example of that.Continue Reading Michigan Secure Cannabis Transporter Does Not Get Quick Dismissal From FLSA Case
It’s been an active few weeks in Michigan on the psychedelics front, with activity on both the legalization and law enforcement sides of the issue. Here’s a quick recap of two important bits of psychedelic news.Continue Reading Updates on Michigan Psychedelic News
On March 7, 2023, a federal court in Pennsylvania issued a ruling denying a cannabis company’s motion to dismiss claims based on the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (the “FLSA”). The opinion in DeMarco et al. v. FarmaceuticalRC, LLC et al., W.D. Pa. Case No. 2022cv-1164, covers familiar ground in the realm of FLSA misclassification cases, and explains why the plaintiffs—who work as drivers ferrying defendants’ cannabis products along their supply chain—sufficiently pled their claims. Specifically, the court applied the six-factor test for determining whether a given worker is an employee or an independent contractor and found that plaintiffs had sufficiently alleged the existence of an employer-employee relationship.Continue Reading Cannabis Employee Misclassification Case Moves Forward in Federal Court
Five states had marijuana on the ballot in last Tuesday’s elections (and another state had psychedelics). Here’s a deeper look at these measures, and what comes next for the cannabis industry.
Continue Reading 2022 Post-Election Analysis: Where Does Cannabis Go From Here?