A high-profile challenge to employers’ ability to penalize an employee’s off-work consumption of marijuana is coming from an unlikely place — the football field.
Pass rushing linebacker Randall Gregory this week filed a state district court lawsuit in Arapahoe County against the National Football League and the Denver Broncos Team LLC claiming $532,500 in league fines he paid for testing positive for THC while playing for the team violated the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act.
Gregory, who left the Broncos after 18 months with the team in an October 2023 trade to the San Francisco 49ers, had a doctor’s prescription for Dronabinol, an FDA-approved substance containing THC.
The synthetic cannabis was prescribed to treat Gregory’s diagnosed social anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders, the lawsuit complaint said.
The Broncos franchise refused to make accommodations for his disability, Gregory’s lawsuit complaint said, and inappropriately penalized him.
“It is a violation of CADA for the NFL and the Broncos to financially penalize Mr. Gregory for consuming prescribed Dronabinol to treat his disabilities, while simultaneously benefiting from his continued employment,” the lawsuit complaint said. “The NFL and the Broncos are not above the law.”
Marijuana and THC are legal for medical and recreational use in Colorado. The NFL tests and penalizes athletes found to have THC in their system because of federal prohibitions.
The Broncos failed to engage Gregory on his request for accommodations, the lawsuit complaint says, and the NFL denied his request for a “therapeutic use exemption” that would have allowed him to use THC.
Employers are allowed, under a 2015 Colorado Supreme Court decision in a case involving a Dish Network Corp. employee, to fire workers for after-hours consumption of federally illegal marijuana and related substances.But the Broncos didn’t fire Gregory for testing positive or suspend him.He continued to be expected to report to team activities, media availabilities and other workplace obligations, his lawsuit said. Meanwhile, escalating fines for positive test results for THC meant that Gregory faced losing as much as 75% of his salary if he took his prescribed THC during non-work hours, as he requested in accommodations, the complaint said.Gregory came to the Denver Broncos after being […]
Denver Broncos, NFL sued by player Randy Gregory over $532,500 in cannabis fines
