Renowned cannabis breeder is suing company for termination

One of the most influential marijuana growers in the world has filed a lawsuit against a cannabis company, claiming he lost his job there because he has Parkinson’s disease and needs certain precautions.

Christopher Lynch filed the lawsuit against Node Labs Inc. in a San Francisco court on Monday.

The complaint details Lynch’s Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2014 and his dealings with Node Labs.

In 2017, Lynch “began work on the genetic development and breeding of cannabis plants, including but not limited to ‘C. sativa strains,” the lawsuit states. He eventually founded Compound IP LLC and trademarked the name “Compound Genetics” before entering into an agreement with Node Labs to sell Compound IP LLC’s assets in 2019.

But by 2020, Lynch’s relationship with the company was deteriorating. According to the complaint, the defendants “actively defeated the purpose of the original contract by refusing to provide [Lynch] with an accounting of sales on which [his] compensation based.”

“Further, [Node Labs] had not paid [Lynch] his sales bonus. Defendants continued to actively frustrate the purpose and intent of the original contract during the remainder of his employment and beyond,” the complaint reads.

“Throughout Plaintiff’s tenure, Defendants leveraged Plaintiff’s reputation in the gene industry to strengthen the NODE and COMPOUND brands. Although the plaintiff was not required to do so by his employment contract, the defendants demanded that the plaintiff show up, participate in interviews, and market the mark under his name and likeness,” the complaint continues.

In the lawsuit, Lynch alleges that in May 2021, Node Labs CEO Lauren Avenius “attempted to minimize [Lynch’s] Significance and future role for the company in advising a key investor that the plaintiff has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.”

After months of alleged disagreements between the two sides, the complaint says Lynch was fired in December, a week after filing a “complaint against it.” [Node Labs] with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing.”

“At that time, [Lynch] was on sick leave [Node Labs] had blocked [him] from the company’s email system,” the complaint reads.

Lynch, who has bred some of the most popular cannabis strains available and has partnered with brands and celebrities, was featured by Forbes last week.

“He is the man behind some of the most well known strains on the market today including Pink Certz, Apples & Bananas, Khalifa Mints, Blueberry Banana, Fish Scale, Eye Candy and more. Alchemizing new flavors with rare, hard-to-find genetics is his bread and butter. Lynch’s strain Pink Certz was named Strain of the Year 2022 by High Times. The year before, Lynch was ranked as one of the 100 most influential people in cannabis by the High Times. Pink Certz also won first place at Transbay Challenge III 2022,” said Forbes.

“His success is hard-fought. Lynch was diagnosed with early-stage Parkinson’s disease in 2014 after undergoing brain surgery to remove a cerebellar cyst in the back of his head.”

“Life is precious, be grateful for what you have,” Lynch told Forbes. “Your life can change overnight. Don’t wait to pursue your dreams and goals.”

The profile describes how Lynch got into cannabis after “dropping out of high school in his sophomore year and moving to Amsterdam in 2004 and Rotterdam in 2005.”

“During his time in Holland, Lynch immersed himself in cannabis culture and learned a tremendous amount. He brought that knowledge back to Portland, Oregon, where he began his career growing medical marijuana,” the story reads.