JUDGE TO HEAR MEDICAL MARIJUANA CASE AGAINST WAL-MART

A Battle Creek man who was fired a year ago for using medical
marijuana is countering Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s attempt to move his
lawsuit to federal court.

A federal judge on Friday will hear arguments in the lawsuit on
behalf of Joseph Casias, a 30-year-old cancer patient who lost his
job after a routine drug screen found he had used marijuana. Casias
was registered in Michigan to use it to treat pain.

Casias' attorneys will ask the court to deny a motion filed by
Wal-Mart seeking dismissal of the case and reject the company's
attempts to have the case tried in federal court instead of state
court. The case was originally filed in Calhoun County Circuit Court in June.

Scott Michelman of the American Civil Liberties Union Criminal Law
Reform Project, St. Joseph attorney Daniel Grow and Kary Moss,
Michael Steinberg, Dan Korobkin of the ACLU of Michigan are
representing Casias.