Fired Cannabis Control Commission Chair Shannon O’Brien was wrongfully removed from her post and must immediately be reinstated, a Suffolk Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday.
The order from Judge Robert Gordon comes after two years of legal intrigue.
State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg first suspended O’Brien, herself a former treasurer and the 2002 Democratic nominee for governor, from the chair position in September 2023.
Goldberg officially fired O’Brien a year later, alleging gross misconduct and an inability to perform the duties of chair. She said O’Brien created a hostile work environment and made racially and culturally insensitive remarks.
O’Brien has continually denied Goldberg’s charges and challenged her removal in court.
After a hearing and review of nearly 3,000 pages of records, Gordon vacated Goldberg’s decision. The order says O’Brien’s removal “was not supported by substantial evidence, and reflects material errors of law that are apparent on the record.”
“The question before the Court is not whether the Plaintiff was abrasive, boorish, inconsiderate, ill-tempered, imprudent and/or otherwise unreasonable — either in actuality or in the reasonable estimation of the Treasurer,” Gordon wrote. “Those are simply not grounds that clear the high bar for removal set by the terms of the statute.”
O’Brien, according to the order, is entitled to receive back pay and benefits, and to serve the remaining two years of her term as CCC chair.
A spokesperson for O’Brien said that when Goldberg first approached O’Brien about serving as chair, the treasurer “directed O’Brien to clean up the mess at the CCC.”
“Her work as Chair of the CCC has been focused on fixing the management problems of the agency, bringing opportunities to people of color and women in the cannabis industry, and restoring the integrity to the CCC for the benefit of the taxpayers,” O’Brien spokesperson Joe Baerlein said in a statement. “Acknowledging the challenges of that mission given the recent reports by the State Inspector General and State Auditor, Chair O’Brien is pleased to have her good name restored and looks forward to working with CCC Executive Director, Travis Ahearn, and her fellow CCC commissioners, in fulfilling the intent of the Legislature when it created the CCC.”
A spokesperson for Goldberg said Tuesday afternoon that the treasurer’s team is reviewing the court’s decision and determining next steps.
“I don’t think, under any circumstance, the kind of behavior Chair O’Brien demonstrated should be tolerated,” Goldberg said in a statement. “I do not accept that harassment and bullying are just trivial issues in the workplace. Frankly, we think this judge got it wrong.”
