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n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m O c t o b e r 2 0 1 8 | n e w h a v e n B I Z 9 B E Y O N D T H E H E A D L I N E S Memories (good and bad) in mind, Mory's embarks on capital campaign M ory's, the private dining club that has been a Yale fixture for a century and a half, under- went a near-death experience when operating funds ran dry and forced it to close at the end of 2008, only to be resurrected by a re- sourceful group of Yalies 20 months later, has embarked on an effort to ensure that history — the bad kind, anyway — doesn't repeat itself. To that end the club has embarked on a fundraising effort christened the "More Mory's Campaign" to raise funds to keep the ancient dining club/watering hole solvent for years to come. To date more than $5.5 million has been raised to bolster an endowment and support a capital-improvement campaign to ensure Mory's survival for future generations of Elis. e money will be used to retire outstanding debts and pay for capital improvements to Mory's 306 York Street c. 1817 clubhouse (to which the club relocated in 1912 and which was partially renovated in 2010). Campaign proceeds will also be used as seed money for a new endowment fund to be managed by Yale Investments, which under the stewardship of David F. Swensen has posted historic returns with the university's endowment. Since before the Civil War Mory's has functioned as a de facto student lounge, alumni watering hole, faculty lounge and parent center. It also houses a treasure trove of memorabilia related to Yale athletics, and a kind of museum/ memorial to the generations of Yalies who have carved their initials into its ancient table tops while sipping a restorative "Cup," noshing on Baker soup and being serenaded by the Whiffenpoofs. Despite its old-white-dude veneer, Mory's has in recent years earnestly endeavored to adapt to changing times. e coming of co-education induced the club to begin accepting female members in 1972, but Connecticut's raising of the drinking age from 18 to 21 in 1985 put a weighty damper on undergrad revelry (at least of the legal kind). Once restricted to Yale students, faculty and alumni, Mo- ry's when it reopened responded by broadening the potential member- ship pool to non-Yalie members. Now, as part of the new cam- paign, you can own a piece of Mory's memorabilia for the ages through various "donor recogni- tion opportunities." ese range from a cool $250,000 for clubhouse window restoration, $50,000 for the "Harvard Room" (a/k/a the men's lavatory) down to $35,000 for the telephone closet near the front entry, surreptitiously employed by earlier generations of Yalies as a trysting spot for furtive lovers. Now the students have iPhones. n — Michael C. Bingham Can you fire a worker who's legally high? E mployers beware: Rapidly changing rules and case law around the medical use of marijuana are challenging established disciplinary and hiring practices. Even in jobs with a safety component, a positive drug test for marijuana doesn't necessarily mean an employee can be terminated or a job offer rescinded without legal repercussions, says Meredith Diette, an attorney representing employers at Berchem Moses PC of Milford. "Don't fire people because they come back with a positive drug test...call your lawyer first," she says. Despite federal rules on drug testing, Connecticut judges are siding with employees with medical marijuana cards, Diette says. A dis- trict court judge ruled Sept. 8 that an employer wrongly rescinded a job offer to a physical therapist who tested positive for marijuana. e candidate had a medical card and had disclosed her use of marijuana to the prospective employer. Even employees who show clear signs of impairment on the job may be protected by state law. "You don't know when they used cannabis," Di- ette says. "It just keeps getting more and more blurred." Marijuana and its effect on em- ployment policies was discussed as part of a Sept. 26 panel at Gateway Community College sponsored by the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce. e issue is a growing concern: Last month eight new ailments were added to the list of condi- tions eligible for the state's med- ical marijuana program, which has already certified nearly 28,000 individual patients. Employers need to get the facts on Connecticut's medical marijuana program, said Kebra Smith-Bold- en, owner of CannaHealth, a New Haven wellness practice special- izing in the certification process. Smith-Bolden said that patients suffering from post-traumatic stress comprise a significant proportion of her practice. Patients and employers benefit from knowing the science be- hind how the drug works and best practices to avoid being "under the influence" at work, Smith-Bolden said. Properly used, marijuana has fewer negative effects on the job than many other prescription drugs and may in fact improve perfor- mance for some with anxiety and other conditions, she added. Measuring "impairment" on the job is not an exact science, said George Howe of Gregory & Howe, a manager of drug-and-alcohol and compliance programs. No single type of marijuana drug test — be it blood, urine or saliva — has been determined as definitive in legal cas- es, he added. Employers operating under federal regulations have a dif- ferent set of rules that may conflict with state regulations, he added. n — Liese Klein

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