The voters of Washington State passed the Medical Use of Marijuana Act (MUMA) which stated that: 

Humanitarian compassion necessitates that the decision to authorize the medical use of marijuana by patients with terminal or debilitating illnesses is a personal, individual decision, based upon their physician’s professional medical judgment and discretion.

Qualifying patients and medical practitioners shall not be found guilty of a crime under state law for their possession and limited use of marijuana. This act is intended to provide clarification to law enforcement and to all participants in the judicial system.

Any person meeting the requirements appropriate to his or her status under this chapter shall not be penalized in any manner, or denied any right or privilege, for such actions. Nothing in this chapter requires any accommodation of any on-site medical use of marijuana in any place of employment.

Jane Roe suffered from debilitating migraine headaches that caused chronic pain, nausea, blurred vision, and sensitivity to light. On a medical questionnaire, she described her average pain as an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 represented “pain as bad as you can imagine.” Because other medications were not effective, she obtained a prescription for medical marijuana. It alleviated her symptoms without side effects and allowed Roe to work and care for her children. She ingested marijuana only in her home. 

TeleTech Customer Care Mgmt. offered Roe a position as a customer service representative but required that she first pass a drug test. She told the company about her medical marijuana use. On the day she started work, TeleTech received notice that Roe had failed the drug test. A week later, it fired her.

Roe sued TeleTech for wrongful discharge, alleging that her termination had violated public policy. (She filed suit under a pseudonym because medical marijuana use is illegal under federal law.) The trial court granted TeleTech’s motion for summary judgment. The appeals court confirmed. The Washington Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.

Questions:

1. Did TeleTech violate public policy when it fired Roe? Was this discharge wrongful?

2. Why did the Plaintiff file suit under a pseudonym?

3. What does the public policy rule prohibit employers from doing?