A cannabis-centric credit union is going after the Federal Reserve after its application to open a “master account” was rejected.

Fourth Corner Credit Union (TFCCU) in Denver wants to be the first to provide financial services to the marijuana industry in Colorado, where recreational use of the drug is legal under state law.

The credit union, which was quietly notified of its rejection in July, filed a lawsuit in federal court against the central banking system for the setback, the New York Times reported Thursday. It accuses the Fed of preventing “equal access” to the financial system.

Mark Mason, an attorney from South Carolina, had a leading role in founding TFCCU, which cannot officially start business before securing an account.

Mason said he was not surprised by the decision and thinks the Fed had been looking for reasons to reject the credit union’s application.

“I felt all along like they were trying to figure out a way to deny our application,” Mason told the Times, adding that a “federal judge who is only concerned in applying the law can [now] make the decision.”

Mason confirmed the lawsuit in an email to The Denver Postlater that night.

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