Long-awaited hearing over cannabis chair’s suspension postponed
Image | Courtesy of State House News Service
Suspended Cannabis Control Commission Chairwoman Shannon O'Brien and her lawyer, Max Stern, spoke with reporters after a Dec. 14, 2023 hearing in Suffolk Superior Court.
The long-awaited meetings between suspended Cannabis Control Commission Chairwoman Shannon O'Brien and Treasurer Deborah Goldberg will not take place as scheduled Wednesday and Thursday, Goldberg's office said Tuesday afternoon.
"Chair O'Brien's attorneys have informed us that due to unforeseen circumstances, they are unable to attend the meetings scheduled for April 10 and 11. They again have requested a postponement and we have agreed," Goldberg spokesman Andrew Napolitano said in a statement. "We have been attempting to meet with the Chair since September and we hope to avoid further delays in scheduling the meetings."
A spokesman for O'Brien was not immediately available Tuesday afternoon.
The private meetings, if rescheduled and held, could lead to O'Brien's firing. After appointing her to the top job in 2022, Goldberg suspended O'Brien, a former state treasurer and the Democratic Party's 2002 nominee for governor, with pay in September. O'Brien sued, and a Superior Court judge late last year cleared the way for Goldberg to hold the meeting that is required if the treasurer is to fire the CCC chair.
Goldberg has given two justifications for O'Brien's suspension and possible firing: that the chairwoman is alleged to have made racially insensitive remarks and that she mistreated former CCC Executive Director Shawn Collins, a former Goldberg deputy. O'Brien has denied the allegations against her.
Goldberg and O'Brien, along with lawyers from each side and a third-party meeting officiant, were to meet from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday in the Treasury's offices on the 12th floor of 1 Ashburton Place. Goldberg's office did not indicate whether the meetings have already been rescheduled.
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