Holon Law Partners Secures Unanimous Reversal of Firefighter’s Termination in Landmark Virginia Medical Cannabis Case
Same-day 3–0 citizen panel decision reinstates career firefighter with back pay, affirming that Virginia law protects public safety employees who lawfully use certified medical cannabis
FAIRFAX, Va. — [July 21, 2026] — Holon Law Partners, LLP has secured the reinstatement of a career firefighter-paramedic terminated by Henrico County after he tested positive for THC while holding a valid medical cannabis certification issued under Virginia law. Following a robust Step 4 grievance hearing, a three-member citizen grievance panel voted unanimously — 3 to 0, the same day — to reverse the termination, restore the firefighter to duty, and award back pay.
The matter, led by Holon Managing Partner Eric Postow, was brought through the Henrico County employee grievance process on behalf of the firefighter and the Henrico Professional Firefighters Association, IAFF Local 1568. Convened at Step 4 of that process, the three-member citizen panel found that the County lacked just cause for the termination and that the discipline imposed was inappropriate, disproportionate, and inconsistent with the County’s treatment of comparable conduct.
“We could not have achieved the reversal of this termination for our member without the assistance of Holon Law,” said Local 1568 President William Boger. “Their knowledge of Virginia cannabis law and employee rights, coupled with their strong representation, ensured this employee can return to work with back pay. Mr. Postow was relentless in achieving this positive outcome.”
The case turned on Virginia Code § 40.1-27.4, which prohibits any employer — including counties and other political subdivisions — from discharging, disciplining, or discriminating against an employee for the lawful, off-duty use of cannabis oil pursuant to a valid written certification from a licensed practitioner. The firefighter, an employee with a clean multi-year service record, held such a certification and used his medicine only off duty. He was never alleged to have been impaired at work, and the County’s own witnesses acknowledged the underlying use was lawful.
The evidence showed that the firefighter had notified the County of his certification through multiple channels — including the County’s own medical review officer, who contacted him, confirmed the certification, and reported its validity to Human Resources — yet the County’s internal accommodation process was never initiated on his behalf. The termination rested not on any workplace safety concern, but on the absence of internal paperwork for a process the County had never meaningfully explained, communicated, or administered.
“This decision affirms what Virginia law has said since the General Assembly extended these protections to public employees: a firefighter cannot lawfully lose his career for using medicine his doctor certified and the Commonwealth protects,” said Postow. “Every witness the County called conceded the underlying use was lawful. What remained was a termination built on a paperwork process the County itself never ran. An objective panel of citizens saw that clearly — and it saw it in a single day.”
The result arrives as Virginia courts continue to define the scope of these protections for public safety employees. In separate litigation, the Supreme Court of Virginia recently addressed a related dispute involving a county firefighter, confirming that an employee disciplined for lawful certified cannabis use may pursue a cause of action for wrongful termination and leaving the merits of the statutory protection to be resolved at trial. Together, these developments make clear that Virginia’s public employers can no longer treat a lawful medical cannabis certification as though it were the use of an illegal drug.
“Counties that have taken a rigid, one-size-fits-all approach to medical cannabis are finding that approach does not survive scrutiny,” Postow added. “Virginia law draws a clear line between impairment at work, which every employer may address, and lawful off-duty treatment, which the Commonwealth protects. Public employees — and firefighters in particular — should know that this protection is real, and that it is enforceable.”
About Holon Law Partners
Holon Law Partners, LLP is a boutique firm representing clients in regulated and emerging industries, employment, litigation, corporate matters, and emerging technology, with a practice grounded in protecting individual rights.
To protect the employee’s privacy, and because the matter arose through an internal personnel grievance, Holon Law Partners is not releasing the firefighter’s name.
