Dismissal of cannabis boss reveals internal processes in the troubled commission

According to the investigation, she once shouted at him because she was angry about how the communications team had handled a story about her, and she revealed his resignation plans in a public meeting before he announced them himself – an “abusive and demeaning” violation of workplace policy, the report said.

O'Brien contradicted the report's conclusions in testimony reviewed by WBUR. She, along with other commissioners interviewed by the outside investigator, said Collins had spoken of burnout and expressed a desire to leave even before O'Brien's appointment.

O'Brien said she told Goldberg in April last year that she was considering firing Collins – a former top adviser to Goldberg – because he was “unable or unwilling to motivate or lead the staff” of the cannabis commission.

“From that point on, I was done for you,” O'Brien told Goldberg.

O'Brien also claimed that Collins boasted to others that he “got rid of” former cannabis chairman Steve Hoffman, who abruptly resigned in 2022.

Goldberg suspended O'Brien last September and spent more than $616,000 on the legal process to get her fired. O'Brien continued to receive her $196,551 salary during her suspension.

In a statement Monday, Goldberg said she decided to fire O'Brien after “careful consideration” and with “deep regret.” Collins, reached by WBUR on Tuesday, said he had no comment.

During the hearings, O'Brien also tried to defend herself against allegations that she had made racially insensitive remarks to fellow commissioner Nurys Camargo. According to another During an internal investigation, Camargo claimed that O'Brien referred to then-communications director Cedric Sinclair as Camargo's “buddy.”

“As black and brown people, they [Chair O’Brien] brings us together,” Camargo said. “Basically, all black people are lumped together.”

O'Brien denied that her use of the word “mate” had any racist connotations.

“Detective Camargo and Cedric Sinclair are friends,” O'Brien said in her statement. “She calls him by a cute nickname – 'C.' No one else does that.”

Sinclair was later suspended for reasons the commission declined to disclose. A WBUR investigation found that three female employees said they were repeatedly harassed by him.

Camargo was also offended when O'Brien said she “probably” knew state Senator Lydia Edwards, a prominent black politician and former city councilwoman.

“I don't believe all people of color know each other,” O'Brien said in her testimony. “However, I believe that two prominent political officials in the city of Boston who are women of color and who have similar progressive agendas probably know each other.”

O'Brien said she believed Camargo resented her for being elected commission chair. She said Camargo “campaigned for the position of chair and was deeply upset that she was not appointed.”

A Commission spokesman did not respond to a request for comment from Camargo.

O'Brien blamed Goldberg in part for the hostile dynamic on the commission board, saying it was the treasurer who suggested Camargo was not qualified to chair.

“You were,” O'Brien told Goldberg during the hearing. “When you announced my appointment in August 2022, I was embarrassed to be publicly attacked by people who were upset that you had not appointed a woman of color.”

O'Brien and her legal team plan to appeal her termination to the state's highest court.

“We intend to take this directly to the Supreme Court,” her lawyer Max Stern said in an interview on Tuesday.

Stern said they plan to challenge the nature of the disciplinary hearings – in which Goldberg was the sole decision-maker and the O'Brien camp was not allowed to cross-examine witnesses.

“We believe this represents an extreme violation of the most basic standards of due process,” Stern said.

O'Brien had previously tried to get a lower court to block the hearings.

The Treasury Secretary's office has so far declined to release a copy of its decision in the case detailing the exact violations that led to O'Brien's dismissal.

Currently, the Commission has neither a full-time chair nor an executive director. The other Commission members regularly argue in public meetings and often disagree about who should chair the meetings.

On Tuesday, Goldberg appointed Commissioner Bruce Stebbins as acting chairman.

“I am grateful that he has agreed to remain in this role until a permanent chair is appointed,” she said in a statement.

Goldberg did not give a timeline for when that might be.