The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled a Las Vegas casino worker is entitled to collect unemployment benefits after being fired for testing positive for marijuana.
The justices said the downtown Las Vegas Club — which was shuttered last summer — failed to present its drug and alcohol policy to the court to show the worker willfully violated it.
Jeffrey Simmons, a 10-year employee of the casino as a surveillance technician, started using medical marijuana in 2013 to treat a disability. In 2014 he alerted his employer to an industrial injury, and he was directed to undergo a drug test. Marijuana was found in his system and he was fired for violating the company's policy.
Simmons sought jobless benefits but the Las Vegas Club opposed the application. Through a series of hearings, the casino failed to present a copy of the drug and alcohol policy to a hearing officer or state officials.
District Judge Jennifer Togliatti ruled in favor of Simmons for the unemployment benefits.
The court said, “The Las Vegas Club provided no evidence to show Simmons was aware that his conduct constituted a violation of the policy.”
The Las Vegas Club, which traces its roots to 1930, shut down in August. The property is now in the hands of Derek and Greg Stevens, the brothers who also control the D and the Golden Gate resorts.
The Stevens did not purchase the casino name, so if the site reopens at the corner of Main and Fremont streets, it would be called something else.