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A Washington appeals court won't upend a decision from the state's Liquor and Cannabis Board revoking a company's cannabis license after it was evicted, finding the decision was supported by the evidence in front of the board and wasn't arbitrary or capricious.
A three-judge panel of the Washington State Court of Appeals rejected Application Software Products Inc.'s challenge to the revocation order, saying in an opinion filed Monday that the company missed the mark by arguing that the eviction itself was in error, as it is not the Liquor and Cannabis Board's job to make that determination.
According to the opinion, Application Software had entered into a written lease of commercial property in 2018 and later acquired a tier 3 cannabis license for that property, but it was evicted in July 2020 by a new landlord.
While Application Software put in a change of location application in April 2021, the Liquor and Cannabis Board canceled it when it became aware of the eviction, finding that the company had not maintained its premises as required for the license. An administrative law judge in March 2022 granted summary judgment to the Liquor and Cannabis Board revoking the license.
On appeal, the company has argued that the Liquor and Cannabis Board engaged in an unlawful procedure or decision-making process and wrongly interpreted the law, but the panel rejected the argument, as Application Software hadn't raised it before the agency.
