A State Senator Is Being Sued Over a Social Equity Dispensary Deal. Here’s What We Know.

Social equity was supposed to be the heart of New Jersey's legal weed market: licenses and benefits for people from communities hit hardest by the drug war. A new lawsuit claims one of those deals was used as a front. Before I get into it, a clear note: everything below from the lawsuit is an allegation. Nothing has been proven in court, and the people being sued deny it.

The lawsuit

In early October, Justin Shoham filed a 13-count lawsuit in Union County Superior Court. Shoham is described in reporting as a former chief of staff to State Senator Raj Mukherji (D-Hudson) and runs a political consulting firm.

The defendants include Sen. Mukherji, Best Buds Union LLC, Story Dispensary of Springfield, and several individual investors.

What Shoham alleges

• That he was brought in as a minority owner "on paper" so the business could qualify for social equity benefits, while other people kept the real control
• That management agreements and affiliated companies were used to pull money out of the business while he got no real say or share of profits
• That he's owed about $230,000 for consulting work tied to Best Buds in Union Township
• That he held a 60% stake in the Springfield dispensary, which he values at around $180,000, and that the store opened in April 2025 without his involvement

What the other side says

• Sen. Mukherji says he hasn't been involved with the company in years. He described a roughly $191,500 payment to Shoham as an advance on a buyout, and says the venture lost millions.
• An attorney for Story Dispensary, Lee Vartan, called it "a shakedown lawsuit."
• The defense says the business dealings complied with the law, and claims issues on Shoham's side, including unpaid parking tickets and tax paperwork, created problems for the license.

Why this matters even before a verdict

Whether or not these specific claims hold up, the lawsuit puts a spotlight on a question a lot of people in NJ cannabis have been asking quietly for years: are social equity owners actually in control of their businesses?

The way it's supposed to work is simple. A social equity owner gets priority and benefits, and they actually run and profit from the business. The worry is "fronting," where someone qualifies on paper while investors and management companies call the shots and take the money.

Heady NJ also pointed out that CRC Chair Harris Laufer is the mayor of Springfield and previously worked as Mukherji's chief of staff. To be clear, nobody has accused Laufer of anything. But when the head of the agency that regulates social equity licenses has a past working relationship with a defendant, people are going to want to know how the CRC handles it.

What I'll be watching

• How Mukherji and the other defendants respond formally in court
• Whether the CRC comments or looks into the ownership structure
• Whether this pushes the state to tighten rules around management agreements for social equity licenses

I'll update this as the case moves. And if you're a social equity owner with your own story, good or bad, I want to hear it.

Sources

• Mukherji sued by ex-chief of staff (Hudson County View)
• Lawsuit alleges Sen. Mukherji of shady dispensary deal (Heady NJ)
• Lawsuit disputes ownership and payments (Hoodline)