Judge orders fired Cannabis Control Commission chair should be reinstated with back pay

A Superior Court judge has ruled that Shannon O'Brien, the former chair of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, was wrongly fired last year and should be reinstated. 

State Treasurer Deb Goldberg suspended O'Brien in 2023 and fired her last year, accusing O'Brien of making racist comments and creating a hostile work environment. O'Brien was appointed to a five-year term in 2022 and denied the allegations. 

"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 O'Brien said Tuesday. 

When O'Brien was fired in September 2024, Treasurer Goldberg said, "The Chair committed gross misconduct and demonstrated she is unable to discharge the powers and duties of a CCC commissioner." 

Judge Robert Gordon ruled Tuesday that Goldberg could only remove O'Brien for very specific circumstances, and that those criteria were not met. 

In the 50-page ruling, Judge Gordon said O'Brien's actions, "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." 

Gordon said O'Brien is entitled to reinstatement to complete the remainder of her term in 2027 and to back pay and benefits from the date of her "wrongful removal from office." 

In a statement Tuesday, a spokesperson for Treasurer Goldberg said, "I don't think, under any circumstance, the kind of behavior Chair O'Brien demonstrated should be tolerated. I do not accept that harassment and bullying are just trivial issues in the workplace. Frankly, we think this judge got it wrong."