Colorado Widow penalized for late husband's legal marijuana use

Posted by Sagar Satapathy on July 19, 2018.

As an act of penalization, the state of Colorado is denying half the workers' compensation death benefits to a widow. She has been denied of the benefits as her husband had marijuana in his system when he died while working on a ski lift.

According to KMGH-TV reports, Erika Lee's husband Adam Lee, was crushed to death in December underneath a ski escalator in Loveland. During the rescue operation it was found that he had marijuana in his system.

In her reaction over the denial of the half the employee’s compensation death benefits, Erika says she's frustrated.

“The system is saying that they are going to take away the benefits from me and my children because Adam Lee smoked a legal substance,” Erika said.

Now Erika is planning to appeal against the state of Colorado’s decision by Pinnacol Assurance, a quasi-state workers' compensation agency.

An administrative law judge is scheduled to conduct a hearing over the issue in the coming months.

As per the law, state workers' compensation companies in Colorado can cut benefits by 50 percent if tests return positive for marijuana or any other controlled substance.

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