Photo | Courtesy of Shannon O'Brien
Shannon O'Brien, chair of the Cannabis Control Commission until her suspension in Sept.
12 hours ago
Court releases 3K pages of documents detailing CCC chair's termination dispute
Photo I State House News Service/Remedy Pics
Treasurer Deborah Goldberg suspended O'Brien as CCC chairwoman in September 2023 and fired her in September 2024 after considering two outside investigations and about 19 hours of private meetings held last summer.
By Colin A. Young I State House News Service
More than 3,000 pages of documents, including transcripts of testimony that current and former cannabis regulators gave behind closed doors last summer, has been made available by the Superior Court as Shannon O'Brien continues to contest her firing from the Cannabis Control Commission.
Treasurer Deborah Goldberg suspended O'Brien as CCC chairwoman in September 2023 and fired her in September 2024 after considering two outside investigations and about 19 hours of private meetings held last summer. O'Brien has contested Goldberg's claims of "gross misconduct" and is appealing her firing through Suffolk Superior Court.
Among the allegations Goldberg cited in firing O'Brien were that the former chairwoman "made rude and disrespectful comments, remarks, statements, and presumptions to Commission staff and colleagues that were or were perceived to be race-based or, at minimum, to be racially, ethnically, and culturally insensitive;" and that she contributed to "a hostile work environment" with the way she treated (or bullied, according to Goldberg) former CCC executive head Shawn Collins, a one-time Goldberg deputy.
O'Brien has contended that Goldberg appointed her to be a change agent at an agency in need of a shakeup, that she was met with insubordination and hostility from the staff, and that her relationship with Goldberg soured when she raised the idea of removing Collins.
The documents that became available last week, which along with an already-public 83-page memo detailing Goldberg's decision to fire O'Brien as CCC chair make up the five-volume administrative record of the case, include the investigators' reports, internal CCC emails, and testimony from and cross-examination of investigators, O'Brien herself, CCC Commissioner Kimberly Roy and former CCC Chair Steven Hoffman.
Photo | WBJ File
State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg
Aside from the public memo, the rest of the record had been impounded since Goldberg filed it in February but a judge in June denied Goldberg's bid to keep it impounded. In the meantime, the court provided an opportunity for anyone whose personal information is included in the five-volume administrative record to ask that it be protected from disclosure.
The trove sheds light on dysfunction at the CCC -- internal emails show distrust and bickering were rampant among senior employees, current and former regulators said it was common for CCC staffers to use phrases like "I don't work for you" to dismiss orders or requests from commissioners, and the cache includes dim assessments of Collins's managerial skills as executive director (along with plaudits for his policy chops) from multiple commissioners -- as well as the pressure put on the CCC by Beacon Hill and the industry as the regulatory agency struggled to make progress on key issues.
That dynamic forced action earlier this year, when the House of Representatives voted unanimously to entirely overhaul the CCC in part due to the perception of it as an ineffective regulator and as an organization beset with personnel conflicts and scandals. The overhaul would also eliminate Goldberg's power to appoint the CCC chair, leaving all appointments to the governor.
The complete administrative record also provides the most complete picture yet of the evidence Goldberg relied on when she fired O'Brien.
"Ms. O'Brien has consistently maintained that sunlight is the best disinfectant. She hopes that now that the public can finally access the materials involved in her Removal Hearing, the public can see the secret, one-sided process that Treasurer Goldberg utilized to remove Ms. O'Brien as Chair of the Cannabis Control Commission and can truly understand that the Treasurer lacked the evidence that meets the statutory standards to remove Ms. O'Brien," lawyers for O'Brien from Todd & Weld said in a statement.
With the full administrative record on file with the court, O'Brien's lawyers last week filed a motion for judgement on the pleadings, essentially asking Judge Robert Gordon to decide the case based on all of the information presented so far. O'Brien is specifically asking Gordon to rule in her favor and reinstate her as CCC chair with back pay.
Goldberg's office filed an opposition to that motion, and made its own motion for Gordon to decide the case in its favor. The treasurer's office said "there was no legal error by the Treasurer that affected O'Brien's material rights" and that "the Treasurer's decision was supported by substantial evidence."
O'Brien's side is due to file a reply brief with the court by Aug. 4, but otherwise no further proceedings have been scheduled in Superior Court.
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