Following a suspension, firing and lawsuits, a judge has ordered the reinstatement of a top state cannabis official in Massachusetts.
It’s been two years since former state lawmaker and treasurer Shannon O’Brien led the Cannabis Control Commission.
In September 2023, she would be suspended with pay by the official who nominated her, state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg. A year later, Goldberg fired O’Brien altogether amid allegations that O’Brien had made insensitive comments and mistreated commission staff in a way that amounted to misconduct, according to court documents.
Now, a judge has ruled O’Brien should be reinstated with back pay, finding the treasurer’s reasoning and evidence for the dismissal inadequate. According to the State House News Service, O’Brien plans to return to the role.
She’s denied wrongdoing from the start, fighting the treasurer’s moves in court. The legal proceedings have been slow and – at times – opaque, as it took time for Goldberg’s rationale to be made public.
A spring 2024 letter from the treasurer’s office would describe the nature of the allegations – including insensitive comments and mistreatment of commission staff – but it would be early-2025 when court documents became available, offering more details.
In early September, a judge found O’Brien’s termination to be unlawful – going as far as to call her comments at the center of some of the allegations a “kind of anodyne teasing that has never been considered actionable, much less evidence of extreme or outrageous misconduct.”
In the wake of O’Brien’s dismissal, the commission’s Bruce Stebbins was named acting chair. He was recently reappointed to a second term by the state. What happens next to Stebbins is not immediately clear.
Goldberg’s office has moved to file a notice of appeal. In a statement to WAMC, Goldberg said: "I don’t think, under any circumstance, the kind of behavior Chair O’Brien demonstrated should be tolerated. I do not accept that harassment and bullying are just trivial issues in the workplace. Frankly, we think this judge got it wrong.”
According to CBS Boston, a spokesperson for O’Brien said O’Brien was “pleased to have her good name restored and looks forward to working with CCC Executive Director, Travis Ahearn, and her fellow CCC commissioners, in fulfilling the intent of the Legislature when it created the CCC.”
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This piece originally aired on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025.
