NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — An MTA worker has filed a lawsuit against the agency, claiming that his demotion, required drug testing and attendance at drug counseling four times a week are all punishment for his legal use of medical marijuana.
Myles Watson filed his lawsuit for monetary damages last Friday in Brooklyn Supreme Court, alleging he was demoted for his marijuana use, which "needs to be accommodated related to his disabilities," the suit read, according to the New York Post.
The lawsuit argues Watson could "work [in] any role with his medical marijuana prescription as he would not use his medication while working and there are no lingering effects that would prevent him from performing the essential functions of his employment."
The 44-year-old said in the suit that he started using marijuana after being injured in a car accident in 2017. MTA officials eventually found out he used pot after a March 2019 drug test, according to court documents. He was suspended and allegedly forced to go to rehab.
Watson began to use CBD after a second crash that December.
In October 2020, he was suspended again following another drug test, according to court papers. He then obtained a legal marijuana card to treat his newly diagnosed Crohn's disease.
MTA officials allegedly denied him an accommodation for the drug and sent him back into rehab and counseling.
The seven-year MTA veteran, who worked as a telephone maintainer and fiber optic technician, said in the lawsuit that he lost his car as well as his daughters' health insurance and was close to giving up his house while serving the unpaid suspension.
Watson was allowed to return to work as a lower paid station cleaner. The suit alleges he is also forbidden to use his prescribed medical marijuana and continues to attend mandatory drug testing three times a week.
While New York state passed legal recreational marijuana last year, transit workers are still prohibited from marijuana use, are still subject to drug testing, and can be fired due to federal regulations prohibiting drug use by public transit workers, according to the Brooklyn Paper.
An MTA spokesman declined to comment to the Post on the pending suit.
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