NYC tourist bus company fires five non-drivers for legal, medical pot use: suit

Five supervisors at a city bus sightseeing company claim they were wrongfully fired for legal and medical marijuana use, new court papers show.

The employees, all field supervisors at Topview Sight Seeing, say they were each canned on Feb. 17 last year after the company implemented marijuana drug tests for the first time – despite the fact that none of them drive buses, according to a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit from Monday.

The workers – Randy Culbert, Stevenson Baptiste, Dazrone Peak, Rodney Ferrel and Tara Strickland – claim the company knew they all used weed and, for at least three years prior, had never required non-bus drivers to be drug tested, the filing alleges. Their time at Topview ranged from three months to three years.

When cannabis barred employers from drug testing workers for weed with a few exceptions.

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On Dec. 18 Topview said they would start the drug testing beginning on Feb. 1, but the plaintiffs claim that, other than drivers, they were the only employees who got screened, according to the lawsuit.

Topview “discriminated against plaintiffs by requiring only them to undergo marijuana drug testing,” the suit charges.

The field supervisors claim the drug test was a pretext to get them all fired since the company already knew they all used pot.

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The company “utilized the drug testing as a pretext to terminate the [plaintiffs], when the real reason for their termination was based on their protected classes,” the suit claims, noting that one was disabled and the others were all black.

Culbert had undergone heart surgery in November 2021 and was taking CBD gummies, which had THC in them, at night to help him fall asleep, the court papers state.

Despite the surgery, the company worked Culbert to the bone scheduling him eight days in a row with only one day off in between on multiple occasions following the procedure, the suit alleges.

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At one point Culbert asked, “What are you trying to do, kill me?” the filing claims.

“I had a heart attack and took CBD gummies to help me sleep after my surgery,” Culbert said in a statement. “My employer ordered me to take a tox screening, I tested positive for THC and was fired.”

Strickland, meanwhile, had a medical marijuana card prescribed by her doctor – and even though she showed the company the card, they still forced her to take the drug test, the suit claims.

Bus drivers are required by the Department of Transportation to be drug tested, the filing states. But Topview didn’t have a drug policy and carried out “unlawful drug testing” on the supervisors, according to the lawsuit.

Three of the workers were offered their jobs back after their lawyer contacted Topview, the suit states.

But Topview didn’t offer to give Ferrell his job back and Culbert didn’t accept the rehire offer, afraid “he would be targeted and terminated for another pretextual reason,” the lawsuit alleges.

“I never smoked at work, only after work and in my home,” Ferrell said in a statement. “They tested us and then fired us, four months after I started.”

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The plaintiffs are suing Topview and Southeast Personnel Leasing, Inc – which handles HR for the company– for at least $750,000 in damages.

“On March 31, 2021, New York legalized recreational use outside of work,” plaintiff lawyer Bradley Siegel told The Post. “Employers are not allowed to test, with few exceptions.

“Our clients were unlawfully tested and terminated. Although we were able to get them reinstated, they were out of work for about 19 weeks,” Siegel said.

Maurice Ross who represents Go New York Tours – the registered name for Topview – told The Post: “Safety is crucial to Go New York Tours that supports and operates buses that carry hundreds of passengers every day.

“And we cannot tolerate employees who are in positions where safety is critical who use marijuana,” he continued.

“It’s a safety concern,” Ross said. “We are operating buses on the streets of New York and any actions we have taken have been for the purpose of protecting the safety of our customers.”

Siegel responded: “”This case has nothing to do with safety, none of the plaintiffs drive or operate the buses.”

Last week, former park ranger Nicholas Aponte filed a lawsuit claiming he was fired from his job in Islip and denied jobs in law enforcement simply for texting his wife not to smoke too much with her mother – who has a medical marijuana license. He is suing the state, the New York City and Islip.

Additional reporting by Joyce Cohen