In most Walmart stores, the only smiling faces you’ll find are on the company’s yellow logo. Therefore, we’re giving this month’s “Brown I” to the mega retailer for terminating a model employee who tested positive for legal, medical marijuana.

For 10 years, 30-year-old Joseph Casias, of Battle Creek, MI, has lived with sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor. Traditional medicines (i.e., pharmaceuticals) did little to nothing to alleviate his constant pain.

The married father of two began using cannabis — with remarkable results — on his oncologist’s recommendation after Michigan voters approved medical marijuana use in 2008. The pot kept the nausea and pain in check and even helped him regain some of the weight he had shed over the last decade. In short, he was feeling pretty good.

That was, until he tested positive in a drug test administered after he had twisted his knee at work. A company policy requires such tests for all employees injured on the job.

Despite the fact Casias quickly rose through the fluorescent-lit ranks, going from entry-level grocery stocker to inventory control manager in merely four years, and being named Associate of the Year at the Battle Creek Walmart in 2008, he was summarily fired. Furthermore, the Arkansas-based retailer tried to block his access to unemployment benefits.

The Michigan law contains a provision to protect users from arrest and other negative actions. It says that state-registered patients “shall not be subject to … disciplinary action by a business … for the medical use of marihuana (sic) in accordance with this act.”

Notwithstanding the Michigan statute, Wal-Mart officials said the company defers to federal standards in cases where the law is unclear. And, even though fourteen states and the District of Columbia protect patients who use marijuana on a doctor’s recommendation, it’s still illegal under federal law. How heartlessly convenient.

The poor guy has sinus cancer, an inoperable brain tumor, and a love for working at Walmart. Hasn’t life dealt him a sh—tty hand already? Why not just let the guy smoke his legal, medicinal weed?

Plus, he lives in Battle Creek, MI, best known for being the home of the Kellogg Company, as in John Harvey Kellogg, inventor of Corn Flakes and noted anti-masturbation zealot. In other words, Casias’ hometown is steeped in wanton priggishness. So much for finding a little reprieve with a little THC.

With the help of the ACLU, Casias has since filed suit against Wal-Mart for violating the 2009 Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. While Casias is seeking compensatory and punitive damages and other remedies, he really just wants his job back.

“For some people, working at Walmart is just a job, but for me, it was a way of life,” Casias said. “I came to Walmart for a better opportunity for my family and I worked hard and proved myself. I just want the opportunity to continue my work.”

Who says pot smokers are lazy?