JUDGE STOPS MARIJUANA SHOP RUN BY FORMER EMPLOYEES OF MISSOULA POT
ENTREPRENEUR

Three former employees of Missoula marijuana entrepreneur Jason Christ
have been ordered to stop operating their own medical pot consulting
business as their lawsuit against him proceeds.

Missoula District Court Judge Dusty Deschamps granted the temporary
restraining order Friday, but refused Christ's additional request to
dismiss the suit entirely.

In August, Tiffany Klang, John Phillips and Nicole Harrington of
Missoula sued Christ, known nationwide for his rolling "cannabis
caravans" where doctors provide hundreds of medical marijuana
recommendations in a single day, contending that many of those
applications were falsified.

Their wrongful discharge suit also accuses their former employer of
using company funds for personal expenses, driving a company van while
smoking pot, and creating a work environment so hostile that they were
forced to quit on June 18.

After the three left Christ's Montana Caregivers Network, they formed
their own corporation, identified in an affidavit as "406 Alternative
Care Consultants."

That business, also known as "Rolling Numbers," helps medical
marijuana caregivers keep track of their plant numbers, which are set
by law, as well as other paperwork required by the business, said
Billings attorney Chris Lindsey, who represents the three.

"It doesn't cater to patients, hire doctors or make recommendations,"
employees said in affidavits.

Deschamps' restraining order applies to "any business enaged in the
same business as Montana Caregivers Network within Missoula County"
owned or run by the three.

As to whether his clients' business had actually shut down operations,
Lindsey said Monday that its client base is so small that the issue
was likely moot.

"They're quite capable of serving the clients they have without
necessarily engaging in any business activities between now and
Thursday," when a hearing in the case is scheduled, he said.

Lindsey said he'd use that hearing to detail the difference between
his clients' business and Christ's.

But Christ, who required his employees to sign a non-disclosure
agreement that applies in a 500-mile radius for five years from the
date they leave Montana Caregivers, said Monday that "every business
has a right to protect their trade secrets."

In a 256-page answer to his former employees' claims, Christ countered
that, far from being stressful, "the working environment at Montana
Caregivers is one that focuses on peace and ending suffering."

To reduce stress, he wrote, the firm provided "fringe benefits like
massages on clinic runs, massages during the workday, company meals,
gift cards, yoga, meditation, free medicine and communal activities
like hacky-sack."

He also wrote that Klang was paid $10 per hour for a 40- to 60-hour
week, unless the company was running one of its clinics, in which case
her work week was closer to 80 hours.

In his motion to dismiss the suit against him, Christ referred to it
as "a hodgepodge of unsupported assertions, irrelevant platitudes, and
legalistic gibberish."

"The court disagrees," Deschamps wrote simply.

In fact, he added, "the Court finds there are numerous allegations in
the complaint that are more than "'legalistic gibberish' or
"'irrelevant platitudes' and may have some merit in the eyes of the
jury."