EAST WINDSOR, N.J. — A University employee who was involved in a dispute over his use of medical marijuana is no longer employed by the University.
The employee, Don DeZarn, was a senior operations manager at Butler/Wilson Dining Services, and had been on paid leave since late August. He had been involved in a dispute with the University’s administration over his use of medical marijuana, which he is licensed to use in the state of New Jersey.
University spokesperson Martin Mbugua said following the initial publication of this story that DeZarn had refused to participate in a process that would determine "reasonable accommodations" for employees who have legally protected disabilities. Mbugua added that the University repeatedly requested information from DeZarn to start this process.
DeZarn’s case had received considerable media attention over the summer after he sent an open letter to University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 detailing his case.In his view, the University, and especially the Department of Public Safety, had repeatedly told him that he had to choose between his health and his job.
“I find it especially troubling that Princeton University is unable to accommodate my disabilities and the need for specific medications recommended to me by a licensed physician,”DeZarnwrote to Eisgruber on Aug. 22.
The University had said in response that DeZarn was on paid leave while they figured out a way to accommodate him, although the word “accommodation” was never defined.
Mbugua said in an interview for this article that took place last month thatDeZarnhad left the employment of the University but did not elaborate on the details of his departure at the time. His departure became evident after the Office of Human Resources made a posting on its website in early October about hiring a new senior operations manager.
DeZarn’s townhouse in East Windsor has been on sale since at least Oct. 14 by his friend, former candidate for the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders and real estate agent Paul Hummel.His house, located about 30 minutes from the University, sits in a row of identical townhouses and has an American flag hanging prominently from the outside.
"I don’t think what they did to him was right,” Hummel told Daily Princetonian reporters last week at an open house for DeZarn’s home. He declined to comment further, saying he was not fully aware of what had happened to DeZarn.
DeZarn was not at the house and did not respond to repeated phone calls over the last month. He has not posted any public posts on his Facebook wall since Sept. 19, when he last gave an update about his then-ongoing dispute with the University.
Under New Jersey state law, employers are not obliged to allow employees to use medical marijuana in the workplace. However, the law does not state anything about using the drug outside the workplace, which is the source of the dispute betweenDeZarnand the University.
The University does not have a uniform medical marijuana policy for employees in “Rights, Rules, Responsibilities,” the University’s main policy handbook. Mbugua noted that although the University does not have a policy on medical marijuana, it has one against using illegal and illicit drugs on campus.
DeZarn, a combat veteran of the Iraq War who served there in 2005, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and several other medical conditions protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The New Jersey Department of Health recently granted him a medical marijuana license after a two-year-long application process.
DeZarn’s email to Eisgruber and other officials, along with the meeting, came after an altercation with DPS officers where he claimed he was told he would no longer be able to work at the University as a medical marijuana patient because they believed he posed a serious threat to the community.
DeZarnwrote in his email to Eisgruber and others that senior DPS officials had given him an ultimatum between his work and his well-being and also said that the dispute has “served to worsen my current medical condition.”
He ran for the open New Jersey 12thCongressional seat this year under the banner of the Legalize Marijuana Party. After U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ), a former University employee, announced in February he would not seek reelection this year, a flood of candidates declared their intentions to run for his seat, among themDeZarn. The election was on Nov. 4, with Democrat Bonnie Watson Coleman winning the seat. DeZarn captured 0.9 percent of the vote with 1,321 votes, according to NBC News.
DeZarnwas arrested twice for marijuana possession in 2013 and ran for a seat in the New Jersey State Senate on a platform of full legalization of medical marijuana. He lost to Democrat Linda Greenstein.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to include new information provided by University spokesperson Martin Mbugua following the initial publication of this story. The additional information says that the University was willing to consider "reasonableaccommodations" for Don DeZarn but that he failed to provide the required documentation despite the repeated requests.
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