The reinstatement of former Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) chair Shannon O’Brien remains on hold as State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, through Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, appeals last week’s ruling that found O’Brien had been wrongly terminated, Boston.com reports.
O’Brien had planned on returning to her previous role after last week’s ruling; however, the judge agreed to stay the judgement during the appeal, which is expected to take about a week.
A spokesperson for O’Brien told Boston.com that “the Treasurer continues to waste taxpayer dollars by filing an unreasonable appeal to the Massachusetts Appeals Court.” According to a Boston Globe report, Goldberg’s office has paid more than $970,000 to the firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in legal fees related to the case.
“Treasurer Goldberg would be wise to heed Judge [Robert] Gordon’s decision, stop the smearing of Shannon O’Brien’s character and let her do the job Goldberg appointed her to in September of 2022.” — A spokesperson for Goldberg, in a statement to Boston.com
O’Brien was fired in September 2024, following a suspension the previous month, for allegedly making “racially, ethnically and culturally insensitive statements.” Following the firing, Goldberg said O’Brien “had committed gross misconduct and demonstrated she is unable to discharge the powers and duties of a CCC commissioner.”
In his ruling, Gordon said that O’Brien could only be removed for very specific circumstances and that Goldberg did not meet the criteria when she fired O’Brien, writing in the ruling that the allegations “do not approach – singularly or collectively – the kind of flagrant, outrageous or unconscionable acts that our case law has recognized as essential to a finding of gross misconduct.”
