MedMen sues Pasadena, California, over rejected retail cannabis application

California-based MedMen filed suit against the city of Pasadena, claiming that its application for a cannabis retail location was improperly disqualified.

According to the Pasadena Star-News, MedMen called the city’s decision “arbitrary, capricious and unlawful” and chalked up the ruling as sour grapes from a competitor, Sweet Flower.

The city moved to disqualify MedMen – which originally qualified for one of the six retail MJ permits up for grabs last year – because of turnover at the company’s executive level since its permit was initially awarded.

MedMen, headquartered in Los Angeles, claims in the lawsuit that, after the original scoring, it entered into a “non-terminable, 10-year lease” for roughly $6.5 million and had already spent $700,000 on various expenses related to the licensing process.

The company further argued that turnover at the executive level doesn’t constitute a change in ownership because the company itself still owns all the assets related to the Pasadena enterprise, according to the Star-News.

MedMen is also not alone in suing Pasadena over its marijuana licensing process; two others from the pool of six original license winners also have filed suit against the city.