Oregon Officials Will Appeal Court Decision That Overturned Marijuana Industry Labor Peace Law

Oregon officials have notified a federal appeals court that they are
challenging a lower judge’s ruling striking down a voter-approved law that required
licensed marijuana businesses to enter into labor peace agreements with
workers and mandated that employers remain neutral in discussions around
unionization.

In a notice of appeal submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit late last week, attorneys for Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D), Attorney
General Dan Rayfield (D) and Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission’s (OLCC)
Dennis Doherty and Craig Prins said they will be contesting the decision by
the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon last month.

After two marijuana businesses—Bubble’s Hash and Ascend Dispensary—filed a
lawsuit in the district court challenging the implementation of Measure
119, a federal judge sided with the plaintiffs, finding that the law
unconstitutionally restricts free speech and violates the federal National
Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

Now the state is pushing back, advising the Ninth Circuit that it will be
appealing, as Law360 first reported. Details about the merits of the appeal
are currently unknown. But the court gave the state a deadline of September
3 to provide an opening brief, and the plaintiffs must file a reply brief
by October 3.

Under the currently paused law, a marijuana businesses that was unable to
provide proof of a labor peace agreement could have been subject a denial
or revocation of their license.

In an order last month, the district court judge walked through various
components of the legal arguments from both sides and ultimately agreed
that the Oregon law is preempted by the NLRA, which is meant to provide
protections for workers who want to unionize—but specifically preserves the
right for “uninhibited, robust, and wide-open debate in labor disputes.”

By mandating neutrality from employers in labor discussions, that
constitutes a violation of the NLRA, the judge ruled.

“Measure 119 does not distinguish between permissible employer speech and
threatening or coercive speech,” Judge Michael Simon said. “Measure 119 is
not limited to restricting only threatening, coercive, false, or misleading
speech, but instead prohibits all speech by employers that is not ‘neutral’
toward unionization.”

On the question of whether the law violates First Amendment protections
under the U.S. Constitution, the cannabis companies argued that “Measure
119 is a content-based restriction on speech that is subject to strict
scrutiny, and that Defendants fail to provide a compelling government
interest requiring this restriction.”

Measure 119 passed with about 57 percent of the vote last November. A
regional chapter of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW)—UFCW Local
555—had submitted more than 160,000 signatures to qualify the measure for
ballot placement last year.

During the Oregon legislature’s 2023 session, lawmakers declined to enact a
bill containing similar provisions. UFCW lobbied for that legislation, and
it decided to mount a campaign to let voters decide on the issue this year
after that effort failed.

UFCW pressed legislators to enact a bill to codify the labor protections in
2023. And after it was effectively killed by a top House Democrat, it
announced that it would be leading a recall effort to oust him.

*Read the text of the Oregon officials’ notices of appeal below: *

Missouri Cannabis Stakeholders Prepare 2026 Ballot Initiative To Create
‘Unified’ Marijuana And Hemp Regulations

*Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen.*

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Marijuana Industry Labor Peace Law appeared first on Marijuana Moment.