MEDICAL POT CAREGIVER SUES CASCADE STEEL

A former employee of Cascade Steel Rolling Mills in McMinnville is
suing the company for $1.46 million, alleging he was wrongfully
terminated after testing positive for marijuana.

Douglas Heuer, a registered caregiver in the state's medical marijuana
program, contends Cascade officials engaged in unlawful employment
practices, wrongful discharge and breach of good faith when they
dismissed him in July 2001.

The firing came eight months after the crane Heuer was operating
damaged a power line, prompting company managers to ask the
44-year-old man to submit to drug and alcohol testing. According to
court records, the testing turned up traces of marijuana and Heuer was
placed on probation.

Heuer contends his ex-wife, Camie Heuer, used marijuana to treat a
disability and his positive test was the result of exposure to
second-hand smoke. That didn't fly with Cascade officials, who told
Heuer that he could return to his job of 22 years only if he tested
negative for drugs.

He succeeded in that in January 2001. But a followup test showed
positive for marijuana a few months later, and the company told Heuer
he was out of chances.

Heuer contends he passed several tests, but was accused of having
manipulated the results. He seeks $78,400 in lost wages and health
insurance benefits, $437,000 in lost pension benefits and $950,000 in
noneconomic damages stemming from alleged depression, humiliation,
anger, distress and loss of dignity and self-esteem.

He also blames the trauma for ending his marriage. He filed for
divorce a month after his termination and Polk County Judge Charles
Luukinen signed off on it last December.

Heuer alleges Cascade did not have reasonable grounds to test him, and
that managers failed to act in accordance with a good faith agreement
after the initial test came up positive.

But perhaps most significant - and seemingly untested by the courts
since the 1998 passage of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act - is
Heuer's claim that Cascade unlawfully fired him on the basis of his
association with a disabled person, forming an erroneous perception
that he was engaged in illegal use of drugs.

Oregon statutes give specific protection to "a person who is
erroneously regarded as engaging in the illegal use of drugs." But the
statute provides no test for employers to differentiate illegal from
legal use.

Human Resources Manager Mike Hereford said he was not aware of the
suit, but was well aware of the situation. He said the company acted
lawfully in its dealings with Heuer.

"We're confident that there is no basis for a lawsuit, and in the end,
it will be proven what we did was completely legal," he said.

Hereford said Cascade is very serious about its drug and alcohol
policy. "This is a tough place to work, and we expect people to be
completely drug-free," he said.

Keizer attorney Michael Callahan is representing Heuer. He was
unavailable for comment this morning.