[420 Girl]

A county judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a woman who was fired for failing a drug test, even though she claimed she was using medicinal marijuana legally under state law.

The woman had sued Colorado-based TeleTech, which has a call center of almost 700 employees in East Bremerton off Highway 303. She worked there briefly, but after a drug test in October 2006, she was fired, although she told her employers that she was recommended to use pot by a physician.

Superior Court Judge Sally F. Olsen offered no opinion as to the dismissal, only to say that there was "no genuine issue as to any material fact," in the case, which was argued before her in Kitsap County Superior Court Dec. 14.

"We're very pleased with the court's decision," said attorney Jim Shore, of the Stoel Rives law firm that represented TeleTech.

Shore had argued before Olsen that the Medical Marijuana Act, passed by Washington voters in 1998, was not intended to create employment protections to people using marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The woman's attorneys vowed to appeal the case.

The woman, dubbed "Jane Roe" in court documents by her lawyers because marijuana is illegal in any quantity federally, had sought $75,000 in damages. But the law firm representing her wants to create a legal precedent for employees that have recommendations from doctors to use marijuana.

They plan to submit the case to the Washington State Supreme Court for possible direct review, said attorney Michael Subit of Frank, Freed, Subit and Thomas of Seattle. Failing that, it could go to the one of the state's court of appeals divisions for a hearing, he said.

"We believe the voters and the Legislature intended employers to have the duty to accommodate their employees' off-site use of medicinal marijuana," he said. "We understood when we took ( the case ) this would be a long battle."

A recently decided California Supreme Court case has similarities to the TeleTech lawsuit. By a 5-2 vote, that court ruled in January that employers can fire workers who use medical marijuana even if it was legally recommended by a doctor.

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