Cresco Labs has reportedly filed a lawsuit accusing Green Thumb Industries (GTI) of poaching a member of its team.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the suit filed in Cook County, Illinois alleges a Green Thumb employee lured away a Cresco employee, who allegedly violated a non-compete clause. According to Cresco, the employee at the center of the lawsuit played an important role in developing the company’s process for extracting cannabis oil from cannabis plants.
“The process provides such value to Cresco that it has applied for two patents on it, on which [Christopher] Tonge is a co-inventor,” the suit said.
A spokesperson for GTI told the publication that Cresco is spending money on litigation instead of investing in retaining employees.
“This move is not only distasteful to their former employees looking to continue their careers in the cannabis industry, but also a total waste of Cresco’s capital and resources,” said Rosie Mattio.
