CBD Switch Up Leads to SCOTUS Review of RICO Suits

The United States Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments from three CBD Oil manufacturers who face a RICO suit filed by a consumer who was fired due to the undisclosed presence of THC in his CBD products. Although initially successful on a motion for summary judgment below, the manufacturers lost on appeal when the Second Circuit joined the Ninth in finding that civil RICO claims may proceed for economic harms that arise from personal injuries. Horn, the plaintiff, had argued that the mislabeled CBD products that he purchased caused him to lose not only his job, but his insurance and pension benefits as well. The Second Circuit sided with Horn’s theory of harm, and found that “business” injuries in RICO suits could be applied to the plaintiff’s employment. This change in interpretation added to an already brewing circuit split, as the Sixth, Seventh, and Eleventh circuits all reached the opposite conclusion. The case, presumably scheduled for argument in the Court’s next term, is Medical Marijuana Inc. et al. v. Horn, case number 23-365, in the Supreme Court of the United States.