Sunset at the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 21, 2024. (Allison Robbert/The Washington Post)
The Supreme Court cleared the way Wednesday for a truck driver to sue the company that sold him a cannabidiol, or CBD, product that he says led to him getting fired after testing positive for THC.
In a 5-4 ruling, the justices upheld an appeals court decision that allowed Douglas Horn to take legal action against Medical Marijuana, Inc., under a landmark federal law that is better known as a tool used by prosecutors to target organized crime.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who wrote for the majority, found Horn could sue under the civil provisions of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), which permits lawsuits by “[a]ny person injured in his business or property" by a defendant violating the statute.
RICO allows successful plaintiffs to collect triple damages. Medical Marijuana, Inc., argued that allowing the provision in this type of case would spur a flood of lawsuits under RICO by plaintiffs seeking to recover greater damages than they could under a typical lawsuit.
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In 2012, Horn was injured in a crash while driving his truck. He suffered chronic back and shoulder pain, so he purchased a CBD product known as “Dixie X” seeking relief. The product claimed to have zero percent THC, but when Horn was selected for a drug test at work weeks later he tested positive. He was fired after refusing to take part in a substance abuse program.
Horn then purchased another bottle of Dixie X and had it tested in a laboratory. After the test came back positive for THC, he and his wife sued Medical Marijuana, Inc., in federal court in New York.
Horn claimed Medical Marijuana Inc.’s false marketing and other actions constituted a “pattern of racketeering activity” under RICO that resulted in a business or property injury because he was fired from his job.
A federal court issued a summary judgment for the company, finding Horn’s injury was personal since he ingested the Dixie X and he was not “injured in his business or property" as RICO requires. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling**,** saying that an individual’s employment did meet the definition of a business.
Medical Marijuana, Inc., then appealed to the Supreme Court, which on Wednesday said the lawsuit may go forward.
“The phrase ‘injured in his business or property’ does not preclude recovery for all economic harms that result from personal injuries,” Barrett wrote in her opinion.