A federal court has upheld an arbitration award requiring a New Jersey concrete company to reinstate an employee who was fired after testing positive for marijuana.
U.S. District Judge Jamel K. Semper on Monday rejected County Concrete Corporation’s attempt to overturn the arbitration award, leaving in place a decision requiring the company to rehire the worker. The dispute involves International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 863, which represents employees at the company.
County Concrete filed its federal case in January, asking the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to vacate the arbitrator’s decision. Court records show the company included the arbitration award, its employee manual, suspension documents, an incident report and New Jersey’s cannabis workplace guidance among the materials supporting its challenge.
The union responded in March by asking the court to confirm the arbitration award. The parties subsequently agreed that discovery was unnecessary and that the dispute could be resolved based on their written submissions.
County Concrete argued that the arbitrator exceeded her authority in ordering the employee rehired. Semper rejected that challenge, allowing the arbitration award to stand.
The case comes against the backdrop of unusually strong marijuana-related workplace protections in New Jersey.
Under the state’s Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act, employers generally may maintain drug-free workplaces and test employees under specified circumstances. However, the law says an employee cannot face adverse employment action solely because cannabinoid metabolites are detected in their bodily fluid.
Guidance issued by the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC) similarly states that a scientifically reliable test showing marijuana metabolites, by itself, is insufficient to support an adverse employment action. Employers may combine testing with documented physical signs or other evidence of impairment when determining whether workplace rules were violated.
The commission has noted that marijuana compounds can remain detectable long after consumption and that there is no perfect biological test for determining whether someone is currently impaired by cannabis.
The federal ruling does not establish that New Jersey employers can never terminate workers who test positive for marijuana. Employers retain authority to prohibit impairment at work, and different rules can apply to employees subject to federal requirements.
Instead, Monday’s decision resolves the narrower labor dispute between County Concrete and Teamsters Local 863 by refusing to overturn the arbitrator’s determination that the employee should be reinstated.
The case is County Concrete Corporation v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 863, case No. 2:26-cv-00660, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
