It was a long and often painful process that finally ended in victory for a Buffalo firefighter and US Air Force veteran who was wrongfully fired from his job, and for his attorney who worked on the complicated case to the end held.

Scott Martinwho was suspended in December 2020 for testing positive for cannabis despite being a legal medical marijuana patient, returns to work this week after a two-year legal battle with the city of Buffalo and the fire department.

What happened?

Martin, who served two deployments in the Middle East over nearly 12 years, was working as an EMT specialist with the Buffalo Fire Department for more than a decade when he was suspended two years ago after testing positive for cannabis after a random workplace test. Two months later he was fired. Although there is a collective bargaining agreement between the City of Buffalo and the Fire Department that sets out the protocol for workplace drug testing, it doesn’t target registered medical marijuana patients like Martin, who has been using MMJ legally to relieve chronic back pain since 2018. sleep problems and PTSD.

It’s the law.

Under Section 3369 of the Public Health Act, a medical marijuana patient cannot be discriminated against or penalized for lawfully using cannabis, Martin’s attorney pointed out David C HollandPartner and Associate in Prince Lobel’s New York-based business and cannabis litigation practice.

“The rights of patients using medicinal cannabis in the workplace are a highly topical legal issue. This was a case of first impressions. It was about properly balancing the rights of the parties to the collective agreement (employers, workers and unions) when it comes to medically prescribed marijuana,” Holland told Benzinga.

“The parties’ agreement to Martin’s reinstatement and recognition of his rights under the Compassionate Care Act (CCA) is a reasonable resolution of this dispute. At national level, I expect parties to…