Ohio marijuana company sued by Florida partner for $23.8M
An Ohio medical marijuana company is being sued by its Florida partner for failing to make payments on nearly $20 million in business loans.
The Ohio companies claim their partners walked away from renegotiating and hinted they're trying to squeeze out its minority-and-woman-owned operations.
Tallahassee-based Harvest Health & Recreation said it bankrolled two related companies, operated by Ariane Kirkpatrick, to grow and dispense medical marijuana in Ohio after it became legal in 2018. Harvest of Ohio operates three dispensaries in Ohio – in Columbus, Athens and Beavercreek. Affiliated companies Harvest Grows and Harvest Processing operate a facility in Ironton that grows marijuana and makes marijuana-infused products.
Despite having operated three dispensaries since fall of 2021, Harvest Health & Recreation claims the Ohio companies have "failed to repay HHR even a single dollar," according to lawsuit filed July 14 in Franklin County. The legal action comes after multiple extensions and nearly 10 months of both parties trying to renegotiate financial terms of repayment.
The Florida company is seeking $23.8 million, which includes more than $4 million in interest, as well as legal costs.
In a statement, the Harvest of Ohio company accused the Florida company and Trulieve, which acquired Harvest Health in 2021, of trying to push the woman- and minority-owned Ohio company aside.
"The actions of HHR and now Trulieve are undermining their pledge to DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) in a bid to gain control of the businesses built by women and people of color, kicking them to the curb," the Ohio companies said. "We partnered with Harvest Health & Recreation ... because of their pledge to support diversity, equity, and inclusion. We received our licenses from the state of Ohio as a result of this pledge."
The companies said Ohio operations were subjected to "interference" from their Florida backers and overcharged on unspecified expenses.
The companies also hinted Trulieve may not want to them keep operating now that the Florida company has its own dispensary in Columbus.
The ownership of Harvest of Ohio was a regulatory stumbling block for the companies as they tried to establish operations in Ohio. They were the subject of an Ohio review of whether Kirkpatrick was correctly reported to regulators as the majority owner – a critical factor in the companies winning a state license to operate in Ohio. The dispute with regulators was settled in 2020.
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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Trulieve sues Harvest of Ohio over unpaid loans to start marijuana biz
