Lawsuit filed to stop the drawing

SF. PAUL, Minnesota (FOX 9) – A lawsuit was filed in Ramsey County to block it cannabis licence selection lottery for prior approval and other similar process is exempt from being filed in connection with the lottery.

The lottery is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, November 26.

Process after rejection of lottery application

The first lawsuit was filed Thursday after Cristina Aranguiz and Jodi Connolly were denied by the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) entry into the state lottery that would have allowed the two women to obtain retail and delivery cannabis licences.

According to court documents, OCM did not “adequately disclose” why the office rejected the women’s lottery application, with the suit alleging that Connolly never received a denial email from OCM at all.

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Instead, after hearing about the rejection of applications from other applicants, Connolly checked the application portal and found that her application had been rejected. OCM gave Connolly no further explanation, documents or instructions on what to do next, the suit alleges.

Aranguiz received a rejection from OCM, but claims the explanation was not detailed and “did not make sense in light of the statutory requirements,” court documents state. The office said it did not disclose partnership agreements or “promissory notes.”

The lawsuit alleges that Aranguiz does not have any of these documents and that there is “no reason” for these documents to exist because she is the only business owner applying for a cannabis license.

READ MORE: MN Office of Cannabis Management shares data on equity license applications

According to court documents, the women claim that the reason OCM could have rejected their claims is because they were social justice claimants. This means they were able to apply for cannabis licenses by selling options on future ownership interest in their business in exchange for application assistance and a $100,000 payment if the options were exercised.

Connolly and Aranguiz are seeking an emergency injunction to compel the OCM to halt the Social Equity Lottery proceedings until the suit is resolved. They are also seeking a reversal of the OCM’s rejection of the claims.

The women are also asking the OCM to let them resolve any issues with their claim and challenge any disputed issues. They also say they are seeking an award of attorneys’ fees, costs and disbursements incurred during the trial.

RELATED: Minnesota Cannabis Regulations by City, County: List

How many welfare claimants have been rejected?

A total of 1,169 social equity applications for Minnesota’s cannabis lottery have been rejected, and about 640 will go to the lottery for about 280 licenses.

Similar action will be filed against OCM

North Star Cannabis Law told FOX 9 that they plan to file a temporary restraining order against OCM to try to stop the cannabis license lottery, which they claim OCM has accelerated by Tuesday, November 26th.

Initially, industry experts expected OCM to schedule the lottery for early December.

what they say

On Nov. 19, OCM Acting Director Charlene Briner told FOX 9 in a statement after the claims were rejected that “the review process also revealed a large number of claims that were inconsistent with the protections provided by law to prevent predatory practices”. area flooding’ and other attempts to use the system to gain an unfair or illegal advantage.”

“We remain committed to rooting out bad actors who seek to overwhelm the system at the expense of potential legitimate business owners,” Briner said in a statement regarding the lawsuit filed by Aranguiz and Connolly.

In a statement on Friday, OCM said it supports the process used to review license pre-approval applications and looks forward to holding the lottery as scheduled.