A paramedic and medical marijuana patient is entitled to back pay, compensatory damages and reimbursement of attorney fees from Hillsborough County after he was wrongfully terminated from his job, a judge ruled last month.

Judge Melissa Polo of the 13th Judicial Circuit said in a Dec. 10 opinion that the county violated the Florida Civil Rights Act of Angelo Giambrone, an emergency medical technician in the county Fire Department, after Giambrone tested positive for marijuana as a result of a random drug test in 2019. Hillsborough County has appealed the ruling.

The county put Giambrone on administrative leave without pay even though he held a valid medical marijuana card issued in the wake of state voters approving a constitutional amendment in 2016 that legalized marijuana use to treat certain medical conditions. The plaintiff suffered from anxiety, severe insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to the lawsuit.