Trulieve requests damages from Berkshire over cannabis worker death suit

Courts have yet to decide who was responsible for Lorna L. McMurrey’s fatal workplace incident. A Hampden County case filed by a 27-year-old’s mother named Trulieve and its subsidiary, a Massachusetts cannabis cultivator, as defendants. A separate case demands an answer to another question in response to the wrongful death suit. Trulieve filed the case in the District Court of Florida, where arguments were heard from the plaintiff and its insurer — Berkshire Hathaway. Trulieve recently pushed back against a judgment and filed a request for an amendment that, if accepted, would grant it damages from its insurance provider.

Trulieve and a wrongful suit

Lorna L. McMurrey was rolling joints in a commercial production facility at the beginning of 2022. Workers in Trulieve’s Holyoke, Massachusetts operation were exposed not only to cannabis dust but also mold, according to a lawsuit filed in Hampden County Superior Court. McMurrey succumbed to an asthma attack in the plant while on shift. Her job consisted of operating grinding machines that prepared cannabis flower for Trulieve-branded pre-rolled joints.

In a letter to the multi-state cannabis cultivator, OSHA concluded that, “Although this is a relatively new industry, research has shown that employees are at risk for developing occupational allergies to these plants.” The agency fined Trulieve $35,219, citing serious violations that included poor training. Additional fines included a $350K penalty from the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission. McMurrey’s family filed the suit in Hampden County Superior Court against Trulieve in November 2023.

On November 9, 2021, a worker removed a contaminated screen from a Mobius Mill M210 grinding machine, releasing a cloud of moldy cannabis dust. The action caused McMurrey to suffer a severe asthma attack that required hospitalization. She returned to the same working conditions and collapsed again on January 4, 2022. She died on January 7, 2022. The family’s suit alleges negligence, recklessness, and wrongful death against Trulieve entities, the contractors responsible for the HVAC system — including Burnette Construction & Development, Inc. — and the manufacturer of the grinding equipment. Despite fines against it, Trulieve continues to deny any claims of responsibility.

Growing controversies

The Hampden County case added to a growing ecosystem of controversy for Trulieve. The cannabis cultivator has spent tens of millions on lobbying efforts since its foundation. Trulieve was founded as Hackney Nurseries by the heads of two nurseries. Thad Beshears of Simpson Nurseries and George Hackney joined forces with the Medical Director of Florida State University, Kent Brummel-Smith.

The team brought in former Inkbridge CEO — Kim Fedele Rivers – to manage the corporate side of the business. Hackney Nurseries won a Florida State license to distribute low-potency cannabis to patients on July 20, 2016. George Hackney Inc. completed a reverse takeover with a former Canadian mineral company known as Schyan Exploration Inc. and began trading under its TRUL ticker in 2018. Rivers has served as Trulieve’s only CEO. She is an alleged acquaintance of Susie Wiles, who led Ron DeSantis’s campaign in 2018 before joining Trump’s team. Ballard Partners, a former client of Wiles, has been a prominent lobbying partner for Trulieve since its formation in 2016.

J.T. Burnette — Rivers’ former spouse and business partner — donated $4000 to Halsey Beshears’ campaign. Beshears, a former Ron DeSantis appointee, left office in 2021 before facing a subpoena in a sex trafficking case. It was alleged that he attended the Bahamas with Matthew Gaetz, a MORE Act proponent. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act would have relieved operators like Trulieve of major regulatory burden, including federal banking restrictions and tax penalties under IRS Section 280E. Halsey Beshears is the brother of Thad Beshears, who is stepping down from Trulieve’s Board of Directors this June. Separately, Burnette recently served a 36-month sentence in a federal prison camp on unrelated bribery and corruption charges regarding his secret lobbying firm. The United States of America, as a plaintiff, sent Rivers a subpoena over the matter.

Insurance claims

Trulieve filed a District suit in Florida against its insurer regarding court costs it is enduring in the Hampden County case. Berkshire Hathaway offered the cultivator and processor an insurance policy on January 1, 2022, that included liability coverage for commercial employers. It obligated Berkshire to defend, at its own expense, any claim or suit seeking damages for “bodily injury by accident or bodily injury by disease” that arises out of and in the course of the injured worker’s employment.

In defense, Berkshire argued that McMurrey’s employer was a subsidiary of Trulieve and that it was not included in the policy. On March 31, 2026, however, a federal judge in the Northern District of Florida found that the underlying complaint fairly and potentially alleged that Trulieve Inc. acted as McMurrey’s employer. Trulieve was ultimately awarded a declaratory judgment, which means that the court acknowledged Berkshire’s obligations.

The insurer must fund Trulieve’s defense against the family of Lorna McMurrey. The judgment, however, did not provide the awardee with compensation. Trulieve, therefore, filed a motion for an amendment that would further include damages due to a policy breach. The court most recently denied a case management conference requested by Trulieve to give itself time to decide on the amendment request.

Sources

1. 4:2024cv00422, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

2. 2379CV00588 Laura J. Bruneau, Personal Representative of the Estate of Lorna L. McMurrey vs. Trulieve Cannabis Corp et al