Brandon Coats thought holding a state-issued medical marijuana card meant his job was safe from random drug tests. Even though he did nothing illegal, he was wrong.

On June 15, the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Dish Network was within its rights to fire quadriplegic Brandon Coats when he failed a random drug test in 2010, even though he has a medical marijuana card and was never under the influence at work. Although marijuana is legal for both recreational and medical purposes in Colorado, it is still illegal under federal statute and employers can still have zero-tolerance drug policies.

“I’m obviously pretty disappointed as we’ve been fighting this case for five years,” says Coats. “But it’s not a total loss, because before my case came into the media, nobody was talking about employment and medical marijuana.”

Coats, 35, became a quadriplegic 19 years ago. After building a tolerance to traditional painkillers, he turned to marijuana to treat worsening spasms. “It calms my muscles down and I’m able to sit and do my normal daily things.” He says nothing he has tried has been nearly as effective as marijuana.

Coats has set up an advocacy page on Facebook and is trying to educate state legislators on his situation and urge them to introduce new legislation to protect medicinal users from being fired. “We’re talking millions of people now who aren’t going to be able to find work unless they find an employer who is OK with them using marijuana. We can’t have people here in America unemployable because they need a medicine.”