MEDICAL MARIJUANA DECISION APPEALED

The American Civil Liberties Union on Friday said it would appeal a
decision by a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit against Wal-Mart
Stores Inc. for firing a Battle Creek store employee who was legally
registered to use medical marijuana.

In June, the ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of Joseph Casias, who
was fired in 2009 for using marijuana to treat pain from sinus cancer
and an inoperable brain tumor -- one year after Michigan voters made
the substance legal to treat certain medical conditions.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Jonker said in a 20-page ruling
Friday that the law doesn't mandate businesses like Wal-Mart to make
accommodations for employees like Casias.

But the ACLU alleges Casias never ingested marijuana at work, nor was
he ever under the influence while on the job.

It will appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth
Circuit.