A New Jersey cannabis retailer is asking a federal judge to block the state from yanking its license – and in doing so, take aim at a state labor rule that courts have now rejected more than once, court records show.
The Cannabis Place 420 Corp. filed a five-count lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, arguing the state’s labor-peace agreement requirement is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act.
Are cannabis license renewals threatened?
According to The Cannabis Place’s suit, which names the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission as a defendant, the labor peace agreement mandate strips employers of federal rights, bypasses the National Labor Relations Board election process and gives select unions control over whether a business can operate.
“New Jersey’s mandate doesn’t protect workers; it creates a state-sponsored cartel that holds minority and veteran entrepreneurs hostage,” The Cannabis Place CEO Osbert Orduna said in a statement, according to the Hudson River View.
“This is no longer just about cannabis – it’s about basic constitutional rights, free enterprise and whether state regulatory bodies can be weaponized as enforcement arms for politically connected labor unions,” Dean Kpere-Daibo, an office managing partner at Constangy, Brooker, Smith & Prophete and counsel for The Cannabis Place, told Hudson County View.
The Cannabis Place signed a labor-peace agreement with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 360 in July 2024.
The company terminated that agreement in June after disputes over bargaining terms, Hudson County View reported.
The company then sought a replacement agreement from other unions.
The suit alleges those unions refused in a coordinated manner, leaving it unable to comply with state rules.
Are other cannabis operators affected?
The CRC has threatened to issue a notice of violation alongside The Cannabis Place’s upcoming license renewal, according to the filing.
Regulators granted a temporary license extension while a separate case brought by marijuana MSO Curaleaf Holdings proceeds on appeal.
On Aug. 10, a judge ruled in favor of marijuana MSO Curaleaf Holdings in its lawsuit claiming that the LPA requirement violates federal labor law, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission filed on Thursday a notice of appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, court records show.
It’s at least the second time a federal judge has struck down a state’s labor-peace agreement requirement in the U.S., but for now, the lower-court ruling only applies to Curaleaf and only in New Jersey.
The CRC had fined Curaleaf $610,000 for operating after its labor-peace agreement lapsed.
