Injured MTA worker plans $5M suit over

An ailing MTA worker says the agency forced him into drug rehab classes alongside hardened addicts just because he took medical marijuana to treat chronic pain.

NYC Transit telephone maintainer Myles Watson (photo below) was expected to file a $5 million notice of claim Monday, alerting the agency that he plans a discrimination lawsuit over his neck and back injuries. He says medical marijuana

— in particular the pain-diminishing

CBD — is the most effective treatment for pain from a car crash while on the job.

The ongoing dispute has resulted in him being suspended without pay since November. He’s required to attend multiple drug counseling sessions per week, where he sits alongside people struggling with addiction to much more dangerous substances.

“I have no addiction to marijuana. I’ve used it for medicinal purposes,” Watson, 43, said.

“They have me in a rehab for addicts.”

The lack of work has resulted in his car being repossessed, the loss of his daughters’ health insurance and the threat of foreclosure on his home.

Watson’s legal claims come shortly after Gov. Cuomo legalized adult marijuana use. The landmark legislation, however, does not mean that employees of agencies regulated by the federal government can start toking. Weed is illegal under federal law, and MTA workers are subject to random drug tests.

“Current federal law and the tests do not distinguish between being under the influence today and having taken a puff when you were on vacation last month,” Transport Workers Union Local 100 wrote on its website April 1. Watson’s attorney, John Scola, says the law isn’t so clear. He recently filed a similar notice of claim on behalf of an FDNY 911 call operator.

NYC Transit, “despite their best efforts, cannot circumnavigate anti-disability discrimination laws based on their archaic sentiments on medical marijuana,” Scola said.

Watson’s woes began following a 2017 car accident in an NYC Transit vehicle, which left him with two bulging disks and three herniated disks. He had neck fusion surgery, but was unable to treat his pain with prescription painkillers due to diverticulosis and celiac disease. Cannabis, he realized, helped his pain and stomach problems.