A lawsuit has been filed over what has been identified as the cannabis industry’s first asthma workplace death.
The mother of a worker who died from an asthma attack at a Massachusetts cannabis processing plant in 2022 has brought wrongful death claims against the cannabis firm, its safety manager, and the contractors responsible for the plant’s duct and ventilation systems.
The cannabis firm, Trulieve, has not yet responded to the lawsuit but previously defended its workplace operations in October 2022 while contesting three citations and penalties by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The worker’s mother, Laura Bruneau, claims that the death of her daughter Lorna McMurrey was the result of negligence by the cannabis facility’s owners, along with their safety manager, in allegedly failing to provide adequate safety training and failing to maintain their machinery to minimize exposure to a