New court documents indicate Massachusetts’ top cannabis regulator made race-based and “culturally insensitive” remarks, including referring to Asian people as “yellow,” before she was suspended. The allegations against Shannon O’Brien were included in a court filing she made in her lawsuit against Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, who suspended her as chair of the state’s Cannabis Control Commission. O’Brien is a former state treasurer and one-time Democratic nominee for governor. She said she wants a fair hearing process to defend herself. She was suspended with pay in September.
