California Supreme Court Ruling: Ross v. RagingWire

SACRAMENTO, California (January 24, 2008)

We at RagingWire are pleased with the California Supreme Court ruling in our favor. The Supreme Court affirmed the two prior Court’s rulings that determined California’s Compassionate Use Act (“CUA”) only applied to exempt Californian’s from criminal prosecution under two specific California criminal statutes, meaning that the CUA was not meant to apply to Californian employers and employees.

As the Supreme Court stated in its 5-2, decision:

“California’s voters merely exempted medical users and their primary caregivers from criminal liability under two specifically designated state statutes. Nothing in the text or history of the Compassionate Use Act suggests voters intended the measure to address the respective rights and obligations of employers and employees.” (Page 5.)

This ruling provides certainty in employment decisions in California. This is especially true as ten years earlier the California Supreme Court decided in Loder v. City of Glendale that an employer may require pre-employment drug tests and decide not to hire someone due to drug use.

RagingWire’s business is to provide information technology solutions. Many of our clients require a highly safe and secure environment when they entrust us with the care of their very valuable data and computing infrastructure. Since we must ensure mission-critical uninterrupted service for our clients, we have required since the inception of our business that all employees meet stringent qualification requirements.