A Superior Court docket choose dominated immediately that Treasurer Deborah Goldberg unlawfully fired Shannon O’Brien as chair of the Hashish Management Fee and ordered that O’Brien instantly be reinstated to the job.
Goldberg suspended O’Brien as CCC chairwoman in September 2023 and fired her in September 2024 after contemplating two outdoors investigations and about 19 hours of personal conferences held final summer season.
O’Brien contested Goldberg’s claims of “gross misconduct” via Suffolk Superior Court docket and was profitable in her attraction of the treasurer’s firing.
“The question before the Court is not whether [O’Brien] was abrasive, boorish, inconsiderate, ill-tempered, imprudent and/or otherwise unreasonable — either in actuality or in the reasonable estimation of the Treasurer. Those are simply not grounds that clear the high bar for removal set by the terms of the statute. Rather, the question presented is whether the Treasurer’s removal decision — which concluded that O’Brien both committed ‘gross misconduct’ and was ‘unable to discharge the powers and duties’ of the Chair — properly applied those statutory terms and was supported by substantial evidence on the record,” Choose Robert Gordon wrote in his choice. “On any fair reading of the facts, and any proper application of the law, the Decision fails on both counts.”
The choose mentioned O’Brien is “entitled to reinstatement for the remainder of her statutory appointment, and to an award of back pay and benefits running from the date of her unlawful termination.”
O’Brien’s time period as chair of the CCC was set to run via Aug. 31, 2027.
Spokespeople for O’Brien and Goldberg weren’t capable of instantly present remark, although a spokesman for O’Brien mentioned she does plan to return to her job on the CCC.
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