Former supervisor says Trulieve was promoted to safety manager after worker’s death

A former supervisor at a Trulieve cannabis cultivation and processing plant in Massachusetts says the company killed the site’s environmental, health and safety manager just a month after a worker died from inhaling marijuana dust in the area, according to reports from WeedWeek and the podcast facility promoted The young Jurks . Trulieve is a Florida-based, vertically integrated cannabis company with offices in 11 states.

Late last month, The Young Jurks revealed that Trulieve employee Lorna McMurrey died after inhaling cannabis dust while producing pre-rolled joints at the company’s facility in Holyoke, Massachusetts. After an investigation, Trulieve was fined more than $35,000 for violations at the Holyoke facility, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. After news of the incident broke and nine months after McMurrey’s death, Trulieve confirmed the report on October 3.

“In January of this year, Trulieve witnessed the loss of one of our team members, Lorna McMurrey, who worked at our Holyoke, Massachusetts facility,” the company wrote in an emailed statement to High Times. “Our hearts go out to Ms McMurrey’s family, friends and colleagues as the circumstances of her death have recently resurfaced causing them to relive their loss.”

“Out of respect for the privacy of the family, we will not be releasing details of the specifics of that day. However, OSHA conducted a thorough investigation of the Holyoke facility. PPE was available on site,” Trulieve continued in his statement. “They tested air quality throughout the facility and the samples were all well below acceptable ranges. OSHA has issued citations regarding communications standards, and Trulieve has challenged those statements. We value and cherish all 9,000 employees who make Trulieve a family and the safety of our team members is paramount to our core values.”

Former supervisor denies Trulieve

But Danny Carson, a former Trulieve supervisor who hired McMurrey in spring 2021 and oversaw her until he left the company the following August, disputed Trulieve’s statement that protective equipment was available for Holyoke facility employees. He said that the face masks used in the cannabis cultivation and processing facility are intended for protection against COVID-19 rather than respirators for workers in industrial settings. The masks staff were given, he added, did not fit snugly enough on the face to keep out airborne particles.

“They’re not enough to help their employees breathe,” Carson told WeedWeek.

In an interview with The Young Jurks over the weekend, Carson said that “growth protective gear” was given to workers to protect the product, not the employees.

“Gloves are not personal protective equipment,” he said. “A hairnet is not a personal productive tool.”

Carson also said that a month after McMurrey’s death, Trulieve had promoted the Holyoke facility’s environmental, health and safety manager. The promoted manager, who has not been identified, did not respond to a request for comment from WeedWeek.

OSHA fined more than $35,000

In their report, which has not yet been finalized by the agency, OSHA investigators wrote that on Jan. 7, an employee was grinding cannabis flowers to be packed into pre-rolls when she “said she couldn’t breathe.” Although the report provides few details about the incident, the OSHA investigation found that the unidentified “employee was unable to breathe and was killed due to the dangers of ground cannabis dust.” The report also mentioned that the inhaled dust contained marijuana kief, which are detached cannabis trichomes, the glands that produce THC and other active compounds found in marijuana.

In June, OSHA fined Trulieve a total of more than $35,000 in connection with McMurrey’s death, although she was not named in the report. The three violations cited by OSHA are classified as “serious,” with the agency alleging that Trulieve violated federal regulations that require companies to maintain a written hazard communication plan, maintain safety data sheets on hazardous chemicals, and provide information and training on those chemicals.

The Young Jurks first reported on McMurrey’s death in a live-streamed podcast in late September. In a post on YouTube, The Young Jurks shared a statement from an unidentified former colleague alleging mismanagement at the Trulieve facility.

“Lorna McMurrey tragically died while processing kief at Trulieve’s manufacturing facility in Holyoke, MA,” said the former employee. “I had resigned about a month before her death because of the horrendous administration and corruption I witnessed on a daily basis as a supervisor at the facility. I wish I was there to save her. Please take care of your people. Please continue your education.”

WeedWeek reported that cannabis industry trade groups, the US Cannabis Council and the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), have not responded to a request for comment on the possible need for respirators for workers in the cannabis industry.

“Although this is an ongoing case, I have only to say that I am deeply saddened to learn of Ms. McMurrey’s death and am following the case closely,” said NCIA Executive Director Aaron Smith.