Woman loses job after doctor tells employer about marijuana use, lawsuit says

A Gentex worker says her doctor provided her employer with improper information about her use of medical marijuana. MLive file photo 

By John Agar

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A former Gentex Corp. worker says she was forced out after her doctor told her employer she used marijuana.

Lisa Richlich filed a federal lawsuit against Spectrum Health Systems after a neurosurgeon's office provided her employer with information that she "uses illicit drugs (marijuana) about five times per week."

Richlich said she had been prescribed medical marijuana by her regular doctor for chronic pain, but rarely used it.

She tested negative for marijuana but was "encouraged and pressured" by Gentex officials to resign and accept a severance package, her attorney wrote in court documents.

The lawsuit was filed last week in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

Joseph Casias, who has inoperable brain tumor, was fired by Walmart after he tested positive for marijuana.

Spectrum Health has not yet responded to the lawsuit in court.

In a statement to The Grand Rapids Press and MLive, it said: "Patient privacy and confidentiality is of paramount importance to Spectrum Health. However it is not our practice to comment on active litigation cases."

Richlich, who now lives in Wisconsin, said she worked for Gentex in Zeeland from June 23, 2003, to April 15, 2015. She was working as a purchasing specialist with satisfactory evaluations, the lawsuit said.

She was granted leave under the Family Medical Leave Act from March 3, 2015, to April 15, 2015, for neck surgery, subject to Dr. Todd Vitaz completing a required medical certification, the lawsuit said.

His office was asked several times to do so before it was provided March 18. The certification included "progress notes" with Richlich's medical history, her attorney, Rhett Pinsky, wrote in the lawsuit.

"Plaintiff's medical history disclosed that she 'uses illicit drugs (marijuana) about five times per week.' In fact, Plaintiff's physician Dr. Patricia Persenaire, on or about June 24, 2014, prescribed medical marijuana for her chronic pain but she rarely used it," Pinsky wrote.

It was unnecessary to provide Richlich's medical history for Family and Medical Leave certification and it violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPPA, the lawsuit said.
Richlich underwent surgery March 3, 2015.

She said she requested on "several occasions" that Vitaz's office correct the medical history to indicate she used medical marijuana only rarely, and to advise Gentex. It was not corrected, the lawsuit said.

Gentex contacted her about two weeks after her surgery and said she was in violation of its "Substance Abuse Policy for Employees."

At the company's request, she took a drug test. It was negative, the lawsuit said.

On April 1, 2015, she was offered a severance to resign, or be subject to Gentex's substance-abuse policy, the lawsuit said.

She believed she would be unfairly subjected to drug treatment, including counseling, random testing and a last-chance agreement, with a likelihood of being terminated without any severance, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit contends that Spectrum was negligent in disclosing Richlich's medical history and failing to correct it. It also claims that the release of her medical history invaded her privacy and placed her in a false light to her employer.

The lawsuit also claims intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Her attorney declined to comment on the lawsuit. A Gentex spokesman also declined to comment.