By Sten Spinella
The Berkshire Eagle
ADAMS — Kerry Raheb and his business Indica Cannabis may soon be looking for a lawyer again.
Raheb, owner of the first cannabis dispensary in Adams, is currently embroiled in a civil lawsuit, brought by former employee Laura Pratt, alleging wage theft of tens of thousands of dollars. On Sept. 30, Raheb’s lawyer asked to be taken off the case.
“Counsel cannot provide adequate representation without the cooperation of the clients,” lawyer Andrew Hochberg wrote in an affidavit to the court. “The defendants have left counsel with no choice but to move to withdraw.”
How did it come to this?
In October 2023, former store and inventory manager Pratt, of Cheshire, filed a lawsuit against Raheb and Indica Chief Operations Officer Reneé Houston of Bennington, Vt., claiming she was underpaid for six months of work. Pratt alleged she was only paid $5,300 for about six months of work on a job with an agreed-upon annual salary of $65,000.
Hochberg told The Eagle in July that the discrepancy in days worked and what she was paid is due to the fact that Indica didn’t officially open until June, and Pratt wasn’t fully licensed for her position until May. He said that no other employees were paid for the period before May because the dispensary wasn’t open.
But Pratt’s attorney, Matthew Mozian, has since produced evidence — 1,500 pages worth of text messages and communications during the time Pratt says she worked (roughly between January and June of 2023) — disproving the claim that Pratt wasn’t working because the business wasn’t yet open.
“We sent them discovery requests, and we have gotten no response. The responses are past due,” Mozian said. “Instead, we got the motion to withdraw served upon us from counsel.”
Hochberg says in his affidavit that Raheb, Houston and Indica have “failed to cooperate with their attorneys as far as participating in discovery.” They’ve also failed to engage in a “discussion of the potential for liability and damages.”
On Wednesday, Hochberg declined to comment on the matter beyond what’s in the court documents.
Raheb could not be reached for comment.
A Superior Court hearing will be held on Wednesday regarding Hochberg’s motion to remove himself as legal representation for the business and business owner, where a judge will decide whether he’s allowed to withdraw.
Raheb, Houston and Indica must have legal representation, as businesses cannot represent themselves in Massachusetts.
“He still needs to comply with the rules of civil procedure in responding to our discovery,” Mozian said of Raheb. “Our discovery’s outstanding and overdue.”
Discovery is essentially information about the case that parties share with each other before a trial. Mozian can compel the defendants to produce discovery, and if they don’t, can seek a default ruling against them, meaning the matter is left up to the judge to decide without further input.
In July, Raheb agreed to a plea deal in a criminal matter involving a dispute with a neighbor near his home in Bennington, Vt. The state Cannabis Control Commission is aware of Raheb’s myriad legal issues, but has not gone so far as to take action against Indica. The operation continues to run, with regular hours from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., except Sundays, when it closes at 6 p.m.
“The statutes really incentivize employers to pay their employees,” Mozian said. “It’s sad that an employee needs to chase their employer in court for months to get paid, but that’s what it’s come to.”