New York’s cannabis legalization law was designed to create “labor peace” at the hundreds of companies licensed to grow and sell marijuana. But a legal and labor dispute is roiling one of the state’s first homegrown retail chains.

Gotham — a self-described “mission driven, arts-and-culture-forward” New York City cannabis dispensary — is asking a federal court to overturn a key provision of the law requiring companies to enter into “labor peace” agreements with unions, arguing that it violates the company’s constitutional rights.

Labor peace agreements don't automatically unionize a workforce. Instead, they establish a contract that aims to smooth relations between a company and workers, where the business agrees to remain neutral on unions and a union agrees not to strike. New York requires similar agreements in the gaming industry, as well as on some renewable energy projects.

"We are proceeding with legal action to not only protect our business … but more importantly, our right to be heard," said Joanne Wilson, the owner of Hybrid NYC LLC, Gotham’s parent company, in a statement to POLITICO about the lawsuit. "This case is about more than just Gotham. … [T]he current law stifles the growth of this young industry."

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