NY Trooper Fired Over Off-Duty Cannabis Use Sues

A trooper with 12 years on the job eats a few cannabis gummies at home after a work injury, and ends up fired and barred from policing anywhere in New York. That is the story the New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association is telling in a new lawsuit, in a state where adult-use cannabis has been legal since March 2021.

The union says a disciplinary panel recommended Trooper Alexsandr J. DelCorvo keep his job, and the State Police superintendent overrode it anyway. It's a pointed fight over whether an agency's own conduct rules can outrank a state statute.

One caveat up front: everything here comes from the union's filing and public statements. These are allegations, not findings, and the State Police have not publicly answered them.

What the Union Says Happened to Trooper DelCorvo

The NYSTPBA announced a petition in state Supreme Court in Albany County challenging DelCorvo's termination. Reports point to a late October filing, likely October 29, but the exact date should be confirmed against the court record.

DelCorvo joined the State Police in 2014. According to the union, he used cannabis gummies off duty after a work-related injury. He was fired following two positive THC tests in 2025.

The way the union tells it, the process itself was messy. State Police leaders allegedly did not immediately tell him about the first positive result, and he stayed on road patrol for more than three months afterward. A second test that September also came back positive.

Superintendent Steven G. James terminated him in July 2026. That is the decision the petition asks a judge to undo.

Again, this is the union's version. A State Police representative did not respond to a request for comment, and I could not locate the petition itself or any court document to check these details directly.

The Disciplinary Panel Said Keep Him

The most striking claim in the suit is that DelCorvo's own disciplinary panel did not want him fired. At a June 2026 hearing, state toxicology experts reportedly testified that his results reflected light, infrequent use. They also said metabolite levels cannot establish impairment, which is a well-known limit of THC testing generally.

The suit says the panel's recommendation that he keep his job was unanimous, and that the superintendent overrode it.

The petition quotes the hearing board's findings. There was no indication he used cannabis while on duty, or that his use affected his ability to work. The board also remarked that the product was neither a controlled substance nor illegal for adults over 21 to use or possess in New York.

Per the lawsuit, the State Police never claimed DelCorvo used cannabis while working or was impaired on duty. If that holds up, the whole case rests on a positive test and nothing else.

That is a narrow factual picture, and it is the one the union wants the court to see. Whether the State Police agree with that framing is unknown.

The Legal Argument: MRTA and Labor Law

The legal theory is straightforward. The suit argues the firing violates New York Labor Law as amended by the 2021 Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act, which bars employers from disciplining workers for legal cannabis use outside work hours.

The statute carries exceptions, and the union says none apply here. Its reasoning: State Police did not allege on-duty use or impairment, so the carve-outs have nothing to attach to.

The collision point is agency policy. State Police rules still prohibit troopers from using marijuana, despite legalization. The petition effectively asks whether a rule that predates the statute can survive it, or whether the statute's off-duty protection wins out.

The relief sought has two parts:

• Overturn DelCorvo's termination.
• Declare that State Police cannot fire troopers solely for lawful off-duty cannabis use.

The second item is the bigger prize, since a declaration like that would apply to every trooper, not just DelCorvo. There is also a career-ending wrinkle. The day after the firing, DelCorvo's certification with the Division of Criminal Justice Services was removed for cause, which the union says bars him from law enforcement work anywhere in New York.

Why It Matters Beyond One Trooper

The union says it is long past time for the division to reconsider its antiquated rules on off-duty use of a 100% legal substance. That is the union's language, and it reads as much like a bargaining position as a legal one. A person named Murphy also criticized James for overriding the panel, but the brief did not give a full name or title, so I'm leaving the attribution there until it can be verified.

For context, New Jersey took a different path. The New Jersey Monitor reported that the state attorney general's office advised police departments that the 2022 legalization law did not allow them to discipline officers for off-duty cannabis use.

The practical stakes reach any public-safety worker bound by a pre-legalization drug policy. Officers, firefighters and corrections staff all face the same question: does a statute protecting lawful off-duty conduct beat an older workplace rule?

What we don't know is considerable. There is no court date, no ruling and no State Police response on record. Readers elsewhere should check their own state's law and their employer's policy, since protections and exceptions vary widely, especially for safety-sensitive and federally regulated jobs.

This case will test whether an agency policy written before legalization can override a statute protecting lawful off-duty use. A ruling either way would matter well beyond one trooper, because it would signal how far the MRTA's workplace protections reach into law enforcement.

Until a judge weighs in, treat this as the union's side of the story. The things to watch are the State Police response and the first hearing date.

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