Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Truck Driver Who Used CBD Oil

In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a truck driver who tested positive for marijuana and was fired from his job after he used what he argued was a mislabeled CBD oil product to treat an injury sustained in a 2012 accident.

In 2015, the driver, Douglas Horn, sued Medical Marijuana Inc. and its corporate affiliates in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of New York in connection with his use of “Dixie X,” a CBD oil that he argued was mislabeled as not containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Horn first lost at the district court level, but after a long legal journey that included a successful appeal at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, his case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which on April 2 issued an opinion in his favor.

Horn in his case cited the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act to accuse the company and its corporate affiliates of deceptive business practices. The central question before the high court was whether civil RICO categorically bars recovery for business or property losses that derive from a personal injury. The high court held that a litigant may file a so-called RICO action even if the loss resulted from a personal injury. If successful, a RICO lawsuit can result in a plaintiff being awarded triple monetary damages. RICO is a U.S. law, enacted in 1970, that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal enterprise.

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The Supreme Court by J. David Ake/Associated Press

In late 2018, Horn told Transport Topics that he originally investigated use of CBD oil for his wife’s mother, who suffered from cancer. But, after seeing an advertisement that claimed the company’s “wellness product” hemp oil had a 0% concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol — commonly known as THC — he decided to try it for back and shoulder pain he had endured since a 2012 truck accident.

At the time of his termination, Horn and his wife, team drivers for 10 years, were earning about $200,000 annually together, according to court documents. Horn said he attempted several times to get driving jobs after his firing but was denied due to having failed a drug test.

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Barrett

Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the opinion for the majority.

“The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act creates a cause of action for any person injured in his business or property,” Barrett wrote. “We must decide whether the statute, by implicitly denying a remedy for personal injuries, also denies a remedy for business and property loss that derives from a personal injury. It does not. The only question we address is the one squarely before us: whether civil RICO bars recovery for all business or property harms that derive from a personal injury. The phrase ‘injured in his business or property’ does not preclude recovery for all economic harms that result from personal injuries. We therefore affirm the Second Circuit’s judgment and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”

In court documents, Medical Marijuana Inc. denied all claims that its products contained THC. The owners said their products are tested multiple times during the manufacturing process, that they are legal to consume in the United States and that the company does not “grow, sell or distribute any substances that violate the law.”

In oral arguments before the high court, Lisa Blatt, representing the CBD manufacturers, told the justices that Horn’s ingestion of THC was an injury to his body and not an injury to his business or property. Horn’s economic losses, she argued, were the damages he sustained because of that injury.

Horn in his lawsuit alleged that while marijuana and hemp are similar products, manufacturers in what he described as the “burgeoning” hemp-based market are increasingly manufacturing, selling and distributing hemp-based products with varying content ratios of chemical components commonly known as CBD, which, depending on volume, can be either legal or illegal to consume.