Founder of Prominent Cannabis Lab Forced Out

Genifer Murray, a longtime staple of Colorado’s marijuana industry, was recently forced out of her position as CEO and director of CannLabs, a company she founded in 2010.

According to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, there was an acrimonious split between Murray and the board of directors.

CannLabs, a publicly traded company, said in the filings that Murray was terminated Sept. 4 for cause, including advancing her own personal interests over the interests of the company, disclosing confidential information to third parties, failing to follow directions of the board, and making defamatory statements about current and former company executives and shareholders.

Two weeks later, Murray also resigned as a member of the board after other members threatened to get shareholders to remove her if she refused to quit on her own, according to the SEC filing.

In a Sept. 17 reply to two of the board members, Murray fired back that she was resigning her position as director of CannLabs even though neither she nor her attorney had not been notified in writing of her termination for cause.

Murray also accused the two board members of “noncompliance and outrageous expenditures” that damaged CannLabs, and wrote that she believes they are out to destroy her reputation and career.

Murray also wrote in a separate letter to Mirken that the allegations in the CannLabs SEC filing are “untrue and defamatory.”

Murray declined to comment Monday afternoon, saying that she’s consulting with her attorney.

Bill Livermore, director of external relations for CannLabs, said only that “Genifer resigned from the board of directors last week, and she’s no longer involved with daily operations.”

He declined to expand on the instances referred to in the SEC documents or on why Murray was terminated.