State Treasurer Deb Goldberg has deserted her effort to maintain formerly-ousted Hashish Management Fee Chair Shannon O’Brien from returning to her job lower than a day after an appeals court docket choose tossed apart her effort to gradual the chair’s return to work.
Goldberg stated in a press release launched by her workplace on Thursday that she nonetheless doesn’t agree with the Suffolk Superior Courtroom’s resolution to reinstate O’Brien, however that she would favor to get again to the work of being the state treasurer as a substitute of prolonging an already two-year-old court docket battle.
“After careful consideration, I have advised the Attorney General’s Office that we will not pursue further appeals. My focus must remain on the people I serve as Treasurer. Our work includes building new schools, strengthening the pension fund for our retirees, and creating new economic opportunities in every community across the state,” Goldberg stated in a press release.
The Treasurer stated that she continues to have “profound issues” with Decide Robert Gordon’s September 3 ruling in favor of the CCC chair’s quick reinstatement, including that it “minimizes the seriousness of Shannon O’Brien’s behavior, and also sends a discouraging message to those who came forward with their concerns.”
“The Judge failed to protect them. Every person deserves a workplace free from harassment, bullying, intimidation, and discrimination. This is not a far-fetched idea and is simply about treating people with respect and decency. When I attempted to have discussions with Shannon O’Brien about her language and behavior, rather than working with me, she responded by hiring attorneys and subjecting us to two years of litigation,” Goldberg stated.
Regardless of this, in accordance with the State Treasurer, persevering with the enchantment wouldn’t be good for the fee itself, and her time could be higher spent “focusing on our priorities at the Treasurer’s office.”
This brings to an in depth two years of litigation by O’Brien, who was unceremoniously faraway from her publish in September of 2023 amid allegations she’d made racially insensitive remarks and mistreated fee workers. Goldberg formally fired the chair a yr later after conducting an inside investigation.
All through the complete ordeal O’Brien maintained that her conduct was above board and that she’d achieved nothing to benefit her elimination. She fought for practically a yr to get the data of her elimination launched to the general public.
Earlier this month, Decide Gordon decided that Goldberg’s reasoning for eradicating O’Brien amounted to little greater than a “house of cards” and ordered the chair’s quick reinstatement.
The Treasurer, who had appointed O’Brien within the first place, appealed the decrease court docket’s resolution and requested for the chair to be stored out of her workplace till the court docket course of performs out.
A single choose of the appeals court docket dominated late Wednesday that Goldberg’s try to overturn O’Brien’s court-ordered return to work was unlikely to succeed, and due to this fact there was little cause for the chair to stay off the job by way of a keep of the Superior Courtroom’s ruling.
“After careful review of the papers submitted, including the judge’s comprehensive memorandum of decision and order, the defendant has not demonstrated, as she must, a likelihood of success on appeal. Accordingly, the motion for a stay is denied,” the appeals court docket dominated.
O’Brien’s spokesperson advised the Herald that she was already headed to Worcester on Thursday morning to satisfy with CCC Govt Director Travis Ahern. Information of an finish to the court docket battle was gratifying, they stated, noting that it’s a great factor “that the independent CCC can operate without any further interference from the Treasurer.”
However Goldberg’s last-minute dig at O’Brien didn’t go unnoticed.
“Even after defeat, Treasurer Goldberg tries to save face. Anyone who reads the Superior Court’s decision and underlying evidence will conclude that Chair O’Brien did not harass, bully, intimidate or discriminate against anyone. Treasurer Goldberg is the only person who reached this conclusion, based on ‘blinkered’ reasoning after she brought a case that was ‘a house of cards.’ Chair O’Brien stood up for herself and bravely fought for justice,” they stated.
Now that she’s again to work, her spokesperson stated, O’Brien — a former State Treasurer and state legislator — is wanting ahead to “continuing her career of exemplary public service and ensuring that the CCC fulfils its statutory obligations so that the CCC can serve the public as originally intended.”
In an earlier assertion, O’Brien’s spokesperson put the taxpayer’s price of conserving the chair from her job at “over $1 million” in authorized charges alone, to not point out the again pay the chair is due on her $181,722 wage.
Amy Carnevale, Chair of the MassGOP, stated that the top of the years-long court docket battle doesn’t essentially imply an finish to issues on the CCC.
“The sad reality of Treasurer Goldberg’s decision is that Commissioner O’Brien will never be free to impartially regulate the cannabis industry until the treasurer and her politically-connected staffers are swept out of government. After millions of dollars wasted and declining lottery revenues, Treasurer Goldberg should hand the reins over to a Republican who will bring independence back to the office,” she stated.
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