Shannon O’Brien, the former chair of the Cannabis Control Commission who was suspended, then fired, then reinstated, and then removed again from her post, filed a $3 million lawsuit Thursday against state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg and her former agency, charging that the Democrat tarnished her reputation when she wrongly terminated her.
The lawsuit is only the latest entry in what was a protracted legal fight between O’Brien and Goldberg. The 18-page complaint, which O’Brien filed in Suffolk Superior Court, resurfaced much of the drama that surrounded the cannabis agency after Goldberg in 2023 suspended, and ultimately fired, O’Brien.
Almost exactly a year later, a judge ruled that Goldberg wrongly terminated O’Brien, likening the evidence she used to “thin gruel” and reinstating O’Brien to her post. But O’Brien would spend only months back at the CCC after Governor Maura Healey appointed three new leaders on the heels of a new law that restructured the leadership at the embattled agency.
The lawsuit also comes in the middle of Goldberg’s own reelection fight. The Brookline Democrat is seeking a fourth term, and is expected to face Belmont Republican Elizabeth Dionne in November.
Timothy Burke, an attorney for O’Brien, said the lawsuit is not politically motivated and is “clearly a result of the consequences of the retaliation” that O’Brien has faced from Goldberg and members of the Cannabis Control Commission.
“What’s your reputation worth? … Your integrity?” Burke said. “When you’re threatened with the loss of your reputation, it ultimately comes to a jury’s determination as to what the value of that reputation was and the threats to harm that reputation.”
Andrew Napolitano, a Goldberg spokesperson, said the Treasurer’s office had not yet been served with the lawsuit, and declined to comment on its specifics. Napolitano said the office recently received a “purported ‘whistleblower’ notice” from O’Brien, who’s claiming she had protections as a whistleblower when Goldberg suspended and then fired her.
“Based on the baseless allegations set out in that notice, we are confident that our office has not violated the Whistleblower Protection Act or any other laws,” Napolitano said in a statement. “Shannon O’Brien is once again attempting to rehash issues that have already been investigated or litigated, further wasting taxpayer dollars.”
Goldberg spent nearly $1 million in taxpayer dollars on a law firm that represented her during O’Brien’s termination hearings.
In her new lawsuit, O’Brien accused Goldberg and the Cannabis Control Commission of having violated her rights as a whistleblower and Goldberg of infringing on her state civil rights and privacy protections.
O’Brien is seeking $2.95 million in damages, including $200,000 in “anticipated lost wages” and $2.75 million in “emotional distress damage, damage to reputation,” and attorneys’ fees, according to documents filed in Suffolk Superior Court.
In the ruling last year that handed O’Brien her old job back, a judge ordered the Cannabis Control Commission to pay O’Brien back pay for the months she was terminated from her $202,447-a-year chair position.
The lawsuit filed Thursday revisited many of the allegations O’Brien made in seeking to win back her job and in a series of closed-door hearings held after Goldberg suspended O’Brien.
Goldberg previously said she fired O’Brien because O’Brien would “bully, humiliate, and abuse her colleagues” and repeatedly made racially insensitive remarks. O’Brien has consistently denied the allegations.
In the lawsuit, O’Brien accused Goldberg of improperly disclosing the existence of a confidential investigation into O’Brien over “racial insensitivity” to Edward Farley, who she described as a longtime Goldberg political confidant.
Farley previously worked at the Massachusetts Lottery, which is overseen by the state treasurer’s office, and served as Goldberg’s campaign manager. He has since worked for the campaign of Dionne, Goldberg’s Republican opponent, who paid Farley $1,500 last month for “communications consulting,” according to campaign finance records.
In a statement to the Globe, Farley said he already outlined “several phone conversations” he had with Goldberg in an affidavit he provided in 2024 as part of O’Brien’s termination. He also said Goldberg “initiated” a text exchange with him that the state treasurer later asked to be “deleted.”
“The person who owes the public an explanation is Treasurer Goldberg,” said Farley.
O’Brien said Goldberg told Farley in July 2023 that she had received “confidential information” about an investigation into O’Brien, according to court documents. Goldberg also allegedly told Farley that O’Brien would be “‘humiliated’ by the information being shared with her,” O’Brien’s lawsuit claims.
“Goldberg’s statements to Farley revealed that she was already contemplating O’Brien’s removal and public humiliation before the investigation … was complete, before O’Brien had received its report, and before O’Brien had any meaningful opportunity to answer its conclusions,” the lawsuit reads.
O’Brien accused Goldberg of contacting Farley two other times in August 2023. In one of those communications, O’Brien said Goldberg sent Farley a message with a link to a video of a Commission meeting, directed him to watch the video, and then to delete the message.
Chris Van Buskirk can be reached at chris.vanb@globe.com. Follow him on X @byChrisVan