NFL Sued By Player Who Was Fined Over $500,000 For Positive THC Tests Caused By Prescribed Cannabis Medication
An NFL player is suing the league and his former team the Denver Broncos for alleged employment discrimination after he was fined more than half a million dollars for testing positive for THC that he says was caused by his prescribed use of a synthetic cannabinoid.
Randy Gregory filed a lawsuit in a Colorado district court last week, asserting that the league and the Broncos violated the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) by penalizing him for using the Food and Drug Administration- (FDA) approved cannabis medication dronabinol to treat anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and pain.
While the NFL and its players union agreed to end the practice of suspending players over marijuana or other drugs as part of a collective bargaining agreement in 2020, it’s continued to fine players over positive THC tests. For the first through third positive test, the fine is half a week’s salary; a fourth and each subsequent positive test is punishable by a fine equal to three week’s salary.
“Thus, if Mr. Gregory takes his medication as prescribed, he is fined seventy-five percent (75 percent) of his salary and earns twenty-five percent (25 percent),” the court filing, previously reported by NBC News, says. Since the time that the NFL rejected his request for an accommodation to use the synthetic THC medication in May 2023, he paid out $532,500 in penalties.
“Mr. Gregory is entitled to the full protection of Colorado anti-discrimination laws. The NFL and Broncos ignored Colorado State law and have refused to engage, in good faith, in the interactive process with Mr. Gregory,” the lawsuit says. “It is a violation of CADA for the NFL and the Broncos to financially penalize Mr. Gregory for consuming prescribed Dronabinol to treat his disabilities, while simultaneously benefiting from his continued employment. The NFL and the Broncos are not above the law.”
Attorneys for Gregory also pointed out that the cannabis-based drug is “an alternative to opioids and benzodiazepines, which are fraught with significant side effects and addiction issues.”
The NFL itself has committed significant funding to research into whether CBD can serve as an effective opioid alternative, and it’s also explored the therapeutic potential of the non-intoxicating cannabinoid for pain management and neuroprotection from concussions.
But despite the fact that dronabinol is legal at both the state and federal level as an FDA-approved medication, the league has not carved out an exemption to its THC rule, prompting him to file a charge of discrimination first with the Colorado Civil Rights Division before moving forward with the lawsuit.
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