Cannabis Control Commission chair O’Brien accused of racist, ‘culturally insensitive’ remarks

Bryan Lambert
·2 min read
2

Months after being suspended, new court documents reveal Cannabis Control Commission chair Shannon O’Brien allegedly made several racist and “culturally insensitive remarks.

In an October letter, Treasurer Deborah Goldberg accuses O’Brien of making insensitive remarks towards people of Asian heritage in a meeting.

“As just one example, in response to the allegation that in a meeting in the fall of 2022 you remarked, in reference to a person of Asian heritage, ‘I guess you’re not allowed to say ‘yellow’ anymore,’ you did not deny doing so,” Goldberg writes. “You said, ‘I should have cleaned it up. It’s difficult sometimes to know how to say the right thing.”

O’Brien was suspended from her position on Sept. 14 by Goldberg. Days later, legislators warned that action is “desperately needed” to examine publicly reported problems within the agency.

In a motion, O’Brien asked the court to postpone a hearing scheduled for Tuesday until the Court can hear the Chair O’Brien’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction.

O’Brien requests that the Court set the hearing on her preliminary injunction for Monday at 10:00 am.

“One need only read what is alleged by Treasurer Goldberg and Chair O’Brien’s response to see that any allegation of racial insensitivity is frivolous in the extreme,” O’Brien’s legal team said in a statement. “The Treasurer appears to be afraid to hold a real hearing, with witnesses and cross-examination, and in public so that Chair O’Brien can show the lack of merit to this entire so-called process.”

Goldberg’s representatives say that O’Brien is unnecessarily delaying the meeting.

“The Treasurer takes these allegations very seriously, which is why she wants to provide Chair O’Brien with the opportunity to address them without further delay, and with a fair process that provides an opportunity for her to do that. In October, Chair O’Brien was so adamant about having this meeting that she went to court to demand it,” said communications director Andrew Napolitano. “Now, despite knowing about the allegations since September, she is asking to delay the meeting again. It is in the best interest of the taxpayers and the CCC that this meeting proceed.”

Goldberg picked O’Brien for the CCC chair position in August 2022.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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