Shannon O’Brien threatening defamation suit against Goldberg, sources say

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Shannon O’Brien, who won back her Cannabis Control Commission chairmanship after a judge ruled Treasurer Deb Goldberg wrongly fired her, is making noise about taking Goldberg back to court.

Since she was reinstated to the top job at the regulatory agency, O’Brien has threatened Goldberg with a defamation suit, according to sources familiar with the situation. The threat stems from their bitter fight over O’Brien’s firing, the sources said.

The suit, if it’s filed, would come as Goldberg is gearing up for reelection. First elected to the job in 2014, Goldberg announced in September that she is running for a fourth term in 2026.

O’Brien spokesman Joe Baerlein said Goldberg caused O’Brien “profound and inexcusable” harm, and forced O’Brien to spend “an extraordinary amount” of personal funds for her legal defense. “Counsel have had initial discussions about possible avenues on how Chair O'Brien can be reimbursed and made whole,” he added.

“Threatening litigation only takes us backwards and is at odds with the Chairwoman’s recent statements about her being focused on the Commission’s significant and critical work ahead,” Goldberg said in a statement last night. “The actions of my office have always been about demanding good governance and accountability on behalf of the taxpayers of Massachusetts. To suggest otherwise is simply not true and distracts from the very real issues facing the Commonwealth’s cannabis industry and its oversight.”

Goldberg suspended O’Brien in 2023 and then fired her in 2024, alleging “gross misconduct.” Goldberg pointed to O’Brien allegedly making racially insensitive remarks and mistreating agency staff, contributing to a hostile work environment, in making her case for O’Brien’s removal.

O’Brien, a former state treasurer and Democratic candidate for governor who said she was appointed by Goldberg to turn around the troubled commission, appealed the firing and has said Goldberg damaged her reputation. Her attorneys said in a filing that “given the fraught environment, those who felt threatened by the new broom fought back, weaponizing complaints against Chair O’Brien and marshalling their allies,” who included Goldberg.

In a lengthy ruling issued in September, a judge said O’Brien’s “concededly ill-considered remarks and other putative failures of leadership reflect, at most, errors of judgment falling far below the statute’s ‘gross misconduct’ threshold for removal.” He ordered her immediate reinstatement for the remainder of the term ending Aug. 2027, and an award of back pay and benefits.

Goldberg called the judge’s September ruling reinstating O’Brien “wrong” and said every person “deserves a workplace free from harassment, bullying, intimidation, and discrimination.” But Goldberg ultimately decided against pressing forward with an appeal, saying that was in the best interest of the cannabis agency, as an O’Brien spokesman noted more than $1 million taxpayer dollars had already been spent on the affair.

O’Brien was back in the chair on Oct. 1, saying she considered it "not as a return but as a new beginning." In the meetings that followed, she clashed with agency staff hired in her absence and fellow commissioner Bruce Stebbins over votes on matters while the legal battle with Goldberg played out in court.

Beacon Hill lawmakers are weighing an overhaul of the Cannabis Control Commission. The House in June passed legislation restructuring the agency.

Material from my State House News Service colleagues’ previous coverage of the O’Brien-Goldberg battle was used in this report. With the 2025 election cycle behind us, what stories are on your radar as 2026 approaches, with the midterms, ballot questions and State House races ahead? Let me know: [email protected].

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7:00 | Attorney General Andrea Campbell is the featured speaker and participates in a fireside chat with NBC10 Boston’s Latoyia Edwards as part of the Charles River Regional Chamber's fall business breakfast. Newton’s Ruthanne Fuller will also give her final address to the business community as mayor. | Newton Marriott Hotel, 2345 Commonwealth Ave., Newton

7:30 | Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll stops by the North Shore Chamber of Commerce’s Salute to Veterans Breakfast. | Danversport Yacht Club, 161 Elliott St, Danvers

10:00 | The Joint Committee on Revenue holds a public hearing on nearly 50 bills dealing with property and local taxes. Gov. Maura Healey's Municipal Empowerment Act (H 56) would allow cities and towns to increase local meals and hotel taxes and levy a new surcharge on motor vehicle excise bills. | Gardner Auditorium, State House, Boston | Agenda and Livestream

10:00 | The Cannabis Control Commission holds a hybrid meeting. Agenda include social consumption regulation revisions and staff recommendations on licenses and responsible vendor training renewals. | Union Station, 2 Washington Square, Worcester | Agenda & Access

11:00 | Senate President Karen Spilka and Secretary of Economic Development Eric Paley tour the Massachusetts Metrology Lab and have a roundtable discussion with Massachusetts Bay Community College about career readiness. | 250 Eliot St., Ashland

Big Pharma has a new scheme that will make them even more money: undermining patients' bargaining power and blaming anyone who gets in their way. If we want to solve the Rx cost crisis, we need to hold Big Pharma accountable. To find out how, go to saveourbenefitsma.org.

The time-honored jockeying for Boston City Council president has been underway behind the scenes for months, and gained a new contender this week. In a late night Facebook post and video, Julia Mejia wielded a gavel and said she is the “first to PUBLICLY announce” her candidacy. Elected in 2019, Mejia has been part of previous battles for the presidency, but on Wednesday decried the private nature of the race, which is of interest to close watchers of City Hall, but otherwise a matter of inside baseball. Her colleagues Gabriela Coletta Zapata and Brian Worrell are also in contention for the job. The post comes with a larger office and bigger budget for staff along with the gavel, and the title of “acting mayor” when the mayor travels outside the city or leaves office….

…Auditor Diana DiZoglio put her money where her mouth is in 2024, when her audit-the-Legislature measure was on the ballot and she pulled money from her own campaign account to support it. She’s again dipping into her campaign funds to support a ballot measure that would place the Legislature, her former workplace, and the governor’s office under the state’s public records law. She sent last month $150,000 to the ballot question committee to help it along. “We are the least transparent state in the nation and that needs to change,” she told MASSterList….

…The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) turns 50 years old this month, a civil rights law passed by Congress with the goal of guaranteeing free and appropriate public education to each child regardless of ability. It was modeled after a 1972 Massachusetts law. Advocates are pushing for reauthorization and higher funding levels, and they’re gathering at the EMK Institute for the U.S. Senate Wednesday morning to mark the occasion. Expected attendees include Rep. Richard Neal, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Sen. Michael Rodrigues, Rep. Alice Peisch, and others….

…The conventional wisdom is that unsigned editorial endorsements, published separately from a newsroom’s reporters on the ground, have more impact the farther down you go on the ballot. But apparently even there they don’t always get a candidate over the finish line, or close to it. Will Onuoha, a candidate for Boston City Council At-Large and former housing commissioner, came in last place this week despite multiple newspaper endorsements, including the Boston Globe, Herald, and the Bay State Banner, among others….

‘NO DRAMA’: At the Massachusetts Investor Conference, Gov. Maura Healey called herself pro-growth and pro-business, while touting “no acrimony, no drama” relationships on Beacon Hill. – State House News Service

PUBLIC REPRIMAND FOR JUDGE: A hearing officer with the state Commission for Judicial Conduct has recommended a public reprimand for Judge Shelley Joseph, stemming from federal charges, later dropped, that she helped a man avoid immigration agents at a courthouse during the first Trump administration. – MassLive

SHELTER SPENDING: The Healey administration has spent just over $109 million on emergency shelters and other services since the start of the new fiscal year, less than budgeted. – WBUR

INCOME TAX CUT REPORT: The Pioneer Institute, a supporter of a 2026 ballot question effort to lower the Massachusetts personal income tax rate by 20%, is pointing to past reductions in order to counter arguments that such a drop would wreak havoc on the state budget. – Boston Business Journal

SNAP LATEST: A judge has ruled the Trump administration must fully fund SNAP benefits for November. The administration is appealing an order to send the money by Friday for federal food-assistance benefits. – Wall Street Journal

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TEACHER LAYOFFS: Layoffs look likely in the Whitman-Hanson school district after a newly hired business manager found a budget deficit and said if the cuts don’t happen now, a school will have to be closed next year. – WHDH

MORRISSEY BOULEVARD: Morrissey Boulevard, a Boston thoroughfare that frequently sees high tides, is another step closer to an overhaul after the release of a final report by a state-appointed panel. – Dorchester Reporter

PAY RAISE VOTE: A councilor-elect and critic of Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch, joined by citizen activists, are asking lame duck councilors not to act on a pay raise proposal. Just before the November election, Koch has offered a compromise proposal, taking a smaller pay hike after outcry over an initial 79% boost. – Patriot Ledger

PILGRIM’S PROGRESS: The Plymouth Independent, launched two years ago, has a new editor. David Kidwell, a Pulitzer Prize winner from Chicago who also worked in Miami, has been tapped by the nonprofit publication’s board to take over for Mark Pothier, who is staying on as a reporter. – Plymouth Independent

Republican Deaton setting up challenge to Ed Markey

Councilors push for city to sign onto federal program offering flood insurance discounts 

GBH cuts 15 more jobs

In Boston, Nasdaq CEO predicts rebound for biotech IPOs

Farmers’ Almanac (the Maine-based one, not NH) ending publication after 208 years

KELLER AT LARGE: 8:30 a.m., WBZ-TV. Political analyst Jon Keller's guest is Shannon O’Brien, chair of the Cannabis Control Commission.

@ ISSUE SIT DOWN: 9:30 a.m., NBC 10. Reporter Matt Prichard interviews Dr. Jon Santiago, the outgoing veteran services secretary.

ON THE RECORD: 11 a.m., WCVB. The guest is Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who won a second four-year term on Tuesday.

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