A series of hearings that could end in the removal of suspended Cannabis Control Commission Chair Shannon O’Brien from her post kicked off Thursday in a drab conference room inside Treasurer Deb Goldberg’s office.

The two days worth of hearings will occur behind closed doors after a state judge ruled last year against O’Brien’s efforts to keep the meetings in the public view. O’Brien and Goldberg arrived about half an hour before the first five-hour session was scheduled to kick off.

An attorney for O’Brien, Howard Cooper, declined to comment when asked if he had any goals for the hearings. Goldberg did not take questions from reporters as she walked into the meeting.

The meetings bring to a head what has been a months-long saga that started after Goldberg abruptly suspended O’Brien from her post after “several serious allegations” which were later alleged to be racially insensitive comments, including referring to Asian people as “yellow.”

O’Brien has denied the accusations, and instead unsuccessfully argued in court that Goldberg was too intertwined in the personnel matters of the state’s cannabis commission to oversee the hearings.

But Goldberg will ultimately make the final call on O’Brien’s employment at the Cannabis Control Commission, though the hearings will feature an independent mediator, Thomas Maffei, an attorney with the firm Sherin and Lodgen.

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The court-approved protocols call for a set of two four-hour hearings that offer a chance for O’Brien to make her case against the accusations leveled at her.

Goldberg’s Chief of Staff Chandra Bork said Thursday’s hearing was extended to five hours and a third day of discussions if necessary, though it was unclear if the protocols would apply to an extra day.

A court recorder was also present at Thursday’s hearing, though it was unclear if or when a transcript of the meeting would be made public.

An agenda for the meetings called for Maffei to provide an opening statement on the purpose of the meeting and guidelines for the discussion. Attorneys for the treasurer would then make a “statement of reasons and potentially supporting information previously provided to chair (O’Brien),” court documents said.

O’Brien then can address the “statement of reasons for and information potentially supporting removal.” The suspended pot boss was also in line to receive an updated reason for her continued suspension “if necessary” at least 15 business days before the meeting, according to court records.

Staff for Goldberg said the treasurer was not likely to make a decision on O’Brien’s employment by the end of the meetings Friday.

This is a developing story…