(ABC 6 News) — A lawsuit (Aranguiz and Connolly v. Bureau of Cannabis Management) was filed Friday asking a judge to stop the cannabis license lottery planned for next Tuesday.

The lottery aims to give companies the chance to obtain licenses for retail and delivery services.

According to a civil complaint, the plaintiffs were denied their lottery applications, and both plaintiffs claim they did not receive substantial notice as to why they were denied.

Claimant Connolly claimed a rejection email from OCM and instead had to check the application portal to find the rejection. Connolly claimed that OCM did not provide him with any explanatory documents or additional instructions.

Meanwhile, the applicant Aranguiz claimed that she received a refusal from OCM, but the explanation was superficial
and “did not make sense in light of the statutory requirements.”

The Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) issued the following statement regarding a lawsuit filed Friday:

“We remain committed to rooting out bad actors who seek to overwhelm the system at the expense of potential legitimate business owners.”

That statement was credited to Charlene Briner, acting director of OCM.

OCM issued another statement later that day which said:

“The Office of Cannabis Management supports the process used to review license pre-approval applications. We look forward to running the lottery on Tuesday.”