Shannon O'Brien, the former chair of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission who was fired, reinstated by a judge, and then legislated out of her seat entirely, is now suing state Treasurer Deb Goldberg and the commission for at least $3 million. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Suffolk Superior Court, accuses Goldberg's office and the CCC of retaliating against O'Brien for raising concerns about regulatory violations at the agency, and it adds a fresh and pointed claim: that Goldberg improperly disclosed private allegations about O'Brien to a political operative.
According to the Boston Herald, O'Brien's complaint includes claims of retaliation under the Massachusetts Whistleblower Act against both Goldberg and the CCC, a Massachusetts Civil Rights Act violation against Goldberg, and an invasion of privacy claim against the treasurer personally. O'Brien's attorney, Timothy Burke of Needham, alleges that Goldberg violated O'Brien's civil rights through threats, intimidation and coercion, and that the CCC and Goldberg's office subjected O'Brien to pressure to resign, manipulated complaints, unauthorized disclosures, suspension, exclusion from agency resources, and resistance to her court-ordered reinstatement. O'Brien is seeking triple the lost wages and benefits available under the state whistleblower statute, along with damages for what her filing describes as economic loss, professional and reputational injury, emotional distress, physical symptoms and litigation expenses.
Goldberg had not yet been served with the complaint as of the Herald's reporting. Andrew Napolitano, a spokesperson for Goldberg, told the paper that the treasurer's office had received a purported whistleblower notice from O'Brien but maintained that Goldberg's office had not violated the whistleblower protection law or any other statute. Napolitano characterized O'Brien's latest complaint as a rehash of issues already investigated or litigated, saying it was intended to generate headlines.
A Six-Page Notice and a Demand for Records
Per the notice at the center of the case, O'Brien sent a six-page whistleblower letter to Goldberg's office on August 3, requesting an investigation by an independent decision-maker designated jointly by Goldberg's office and the CCC. The notice also requested O'Brien's complete personnel file and asked that evidence be preserved dating back to January 1, 2023. Under the Massachusetts Whistleblower Protection Act, public employees are generally required to give written notice of suspected legal or regulatory violations to a supervisor before going to outside oversight bodies, a step the notice appears designed to satisfy, according to the Office of the Comptroller.
Burke's filing says O'Brien disclosed or threatened to disclose a range of alleged problems inside the commission, including conflicts corrupting enforcement, obstruction of investigations, preferential treatment of licensees, concealed regulatory information, data-security failures, testing fraud, contaminated cannabis, misuse of public funds and retaliation. The complaint ties those disclosures to the CCC's handling of Greatest Hits, a commission licensee involved in misconduct allegations. The commission ultimately provided an investigative file on Greatest Hits to the Attorney General's office, which did not pursue prosecution, and the CCC now considers the matter closed. Commissioners ratified a stipulated enforcement agreement with the licensee in June, per the Herald's reporting.
The Privacy Claim: Allegations Passed to a Political Consultant
The most novel piece of the lawsuit involves what O'Brien's attorney describes as an unauthorized disclosure to a private citizen. Burke alleges that Goldberg disclosed the existence and substance of racial-insensitivity allegations about O'Brien to Edward Farley, a political consultant and former lottery official who the complaint says had no official role or governmental need to receive that information. O'Brien has denied making racially insensitive comments. The Herald reports that Farley worked for Republican treasurer candidate Elizabeth Dionne's campaign and was paid $1,500 in July 2026, a detail Burke's filing uses to argue the disclosure carried political motivations.
Dionne is expected to face Goldberg in the November 2026 election, and she has publicly seized on O'Brien's lawsuit to criticize Goldberg's management and fiscal stewardship, according to The Marijuana Herald. Goldberg, who fired O'Brien from the CCC chairmanship in September 2024 after a yearlong suspension and closed-door hearings, is seeking reelection to a fourth term this fall.
How O'Brien Got Here
The dispute dates back to September 2023, when O'Brien sued Goldberg over her suspension as CCC chair. Goldberg maintained that O'Brien had committed gross misconduct and could not discharge the duties of a commissioner. But a Suffolk Superior Court judge found in 2025 that Goldberg had unlawfully fired O'Brien, ruling, according to GBH, that Goldberg's evidence of gross misconduct did not remotely suffice to justify the termination. The judge cleared O'Brien to return to her post and granted her back pay and benefits dating to her termination. Goldberg initially appealed, arguing O'Brien's return would seriously disrupt agency oversight, but dropped that appeal after an Appeals Court judge declined to block O'Brien's reinstatement. The two-year fight reportedly cost Goldberg's office roughly $1 million in outside legal fees, per reporting from Contrarian Boston.
O'Brien's return to the commission proved short-lived. Governor Maura Healey signed legislation in April overhauling the CCC, shrinking the board from five members to three and consolidating appointment power solely under the governor, a reform Hoodline reported followed a state audit citing administrative dysfunction at the agency. The reorganization terminated O'Brien's tenure on the commission and stripped Goldberg of her authority to appoint commissioners. Healey then appointed an entirely new commission, and O'Brien was not reappointed. Before her time at the CCC, O'Brien served as Massachusetts State Treasurer from 1999 to 2003 and was the Democratic nominee for governor in 2002, making her the first woman elected to statewide office in Massachusetts on her own accord.
A Cannabis Market Already Under Pressure
The lawsuit lands as the state's cannabis industry navigates its own turbulence. Massachusetts adult-use cannabis sales hit a record $1.65 billion across 46.3 million transactions in 2025, even as falling retail prices squeezed dispensary margins statewide, per Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission data. Wholesale prices sinking toward $4 per gram earlier this year pushed several dispensaries toward closure or receivership, prompting the CCC to weigh a temporary freeze on new cultivation licenses, as Hoodline detailed earlier this year.
The commission, now operating under its restructured three-member board, declined to comment on O'Brien's complaint, citing its policy against discussing pending litigation. With Goldberg not yet served and her campaign for reelection underway, the case adds a new layer of legal and political exposure to a saga that has already stretched across three years, two firings, one reinstatement and a full legislative overhaul of the agency O'Brien once led.
