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What I've Been Reading This Week


I found it tougher to narrow things down this week.  Rather than posting a far reaching "What I've Been Reading This Week" post and bombarding readers with a few too many articles, I want to keep this one more concise and to the point.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


Elon Musk, Pot, & An Employer’s Ability To Discipline An Employee For Usage

Last week, readers might have seen that Elon Musk went on Joe Rogan’s podcast and appeared to smoke pot at one point during their discussion.  Using that as an example, Catherine Ho at The San Francisco Chronicle wrote an article that addressed whether employers (specifically ones in California) can lawfully discipline or terminate an employee for smoking weed.  Even for employers or employees not in California, this is a good article to page through for a bit of background on how even in states where smoking weed is legal, an employer can still have disciplinary policies in place for an employee’s usage.


Ninth Circuit: Employer Cannot Charge Applicant for Cost of Post-Offer Medical Review

Late last month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in a case which held that employers cannot lawfully require applicants to pay for the cost of a post-offer medical review.  This case, EEOC v. BNSF Ry. Co., walks through the entirety of the claim in a rather lengthy opinion.  However, I highlight this case for readers to review given the analysis of whether applicants have to bear the burden of paying for these post-offer medical reviews.

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