Exterior, Bridgeport Police Headquarters in Bridgeport, Conn. March 1, 2018, file photo. Police have identified the local man killed in a June 10 shooting on Priscilla Circle in North Bridgeport as 37-year-old Noel McIntosh. Police said previously the shooting “appears to be an isolated incident where the victim knew his attacker(s).”
BRIDGEPORT — The city has agreed to pay a settlement to a former police officer who claimed he was wrongly suspended for being a medical marijuana user.
The settlement for Donald Bensey came as the case was about to go to trial on Tuesday before a Superior Court jury.
Details of the settlement, which still needs to be approved by the city council, were not disclosed and Bensey’s lawyer, Daniel Angelone, declined comment.
Deputy City Attorney John Bohannon also declined comment on the settlement.
The case had pitted the state’s legalization of marijuana against federal law which prohibits the carrying of a firearm while using marijuana. That issue will now have to wait for another case.
Bensey, a city police officer since 2006 who was promoted to sergeant in 2016, had qualified for a state medical marijuana card in 2016 as a result of being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, according to his lawsuit.
In June 2012, the state General Assembly enacted a law making it illegal for an employer to fire an employee for using marijuana who is authorized by the state to do so for medical purposes.
But in November 2016 and again in April 2018, then Police Chief Armando Perez issued a department-wide memo stating: “regardless of what the Connecticut Legislature has done to legalize the use and possession of marijuana for medical purposes all department personnel are still prohibited from using or possessing marijuana and will be subject to discipline up to and including termination.”
In January and September of 2017, the suit states that Bensey was required to submit to random drug tests in which he tested positive for marijuana.
As a result, the suit states, Bensey was suspended without pay for 30 days and told he would be terminated if he tested positive for marijuana again.
Bensey later resigned from the Police Department.
In 2019, a federal judge threw out Bensey’s discrimination lawsuit against Perez.
“Connecticut employment law protects state employees who use medical marijuana from discipline based solely on their status as medical marijuana users,” Judge Janet Hall wrote in her decision. “However, federal statutes and agency interpretations prohibit individuals who use marijuana from owning firearms. Because such individuals cannot own firearms, they cannot serve as active duty police officers in Bridgeport.”
Angelone refiled the lawsuit in state court contending that the federal judge had not ruled on whether the state law still allowed Bensey to be a police officer while legally using marijuana.
H/T: www.ctinsider.com
