One of the twelve licensed cannabis testing labs in Washington has failed, with Testing Technologies CEO Larry Ward forced to close after firing Dustin Newman, the science director, a month ago and accusing him of falsifying results. Earlier this year, Jim McRae issued an extremely critical report of Washington’s testing labs, suggesting that several players in the industry were issuing results that were overly friendly to their customers. While he didn’t initially name Testing Technologies, he now states that it had “the most business-friendly ranking” in his analysis.
The CEO and the lab director disagree on the facts surrounding the firing of Newman, with Ward claiming falsification of results by Newman and Newman suggesting that it was a business dispute. Lab owners should likely pay attention to the business arrangement between Newman and the company. The lab director owned 25% of the business and had an incentive to issue favorable tests in order to grow the business due to a profit-sharing arrangement.
Read Bob Young’s “Marijuana lab fires science director, suspends operations in dispute over results”: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/marijuana/marijuana-lab-suspends-operations-in-dispute-over-results/
