Seyfarth Synopsis: A federal district court denied a motion to dismiss an ERISA complaint that was based in large part on secondhand “information and belief” allegations about the defendants’ business operations. The...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On Monday, the Senate Parliamentarian ruled that the multiemployer pension plan bailout provisions in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (a.k.a. the latest COVID-19 relief bill) would be eligible for a...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: If the Senate Parliamentarian blesses it, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (a.k.a. the latest COVID-19 relief bill) may include multiemployer pension relief that would provide underfunded...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) recently issued a final rule intended to simplify the calculation of withdrawal liability for multiemployer plans that have adopted benefit reductions,...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On November 27, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that, under Massachusetts law, a terminated employee asserting a claim for being deprived of lost compensation in breach...more
12/24/2019
/ At-Will Employment ,
Bonuses ,
Breach of Implied Contract ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Executives ,
Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
FDA Approval ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Regulations ,
Lost Wages ,
Medical Devices ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Termination
Among the most common types of wage and hour lawsuits in Massachusetts are independent contractor misclassification suits. These actions arise when an individual who provides a service claims that: (1) he or she was...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Yesterday the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in the Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela class action arbitration case. The holding and rationale are important to employers because the Court decisively ruled...more
4/25/2019
/ Ambiguous ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Arbitration ,
Consent ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Jurisdiction ,
Lamps Plus Inc v Varela ,
Motion to Compel ,
Preemption ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS
Seyfarth Synopsis: On January 29, 2019, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that the failure to grant a lateral transfer may be the basis of a discrimination claim under Massachusetts anti-discrimination law where...more
Even fair-minded employers, with sound policies, face “off-the-clock” claims. That is, employers have to defend against lawsuits in which employees argue that they worked hours for which their employers failed to pay them. ...more
Effective July 1, 2018, the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act (the “Act”) requires employers to pay employees of different genders equal wages for comparable work unless the difference in pay is explained by the Act’s enumerated...more
Tip #1: Consider An Arbitration Agreement—With A Class Action Waiver -
Until recently, there has been much debate about the enforceability of arbitration agreements containing class action waivers. Courts disagreed as to...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: An employer, which had paid medical expenses on behalf of an employee’s dependent son, made comments about the company’s rising healthcare costs several months before firing the employee. The Sixth...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A Massachusetts federal court has found that reporting a rumored office romance and complaining about paramour favoritism can be protected activity that is protected by anti-retaliation laws. The court also...more
11/16/2017
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Internal Reporting ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Omnicare ,
Reasonable Belief Test ,
Retaliation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Summary Judgment ,
Workplace Romances
Seyfarth Synopsis: On February 5, 2017, in M.C.A.D. v. Country Bank for Savings, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (“MCAD”) held that an employer engaged in unlawful disability discrimination when it...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: An employer terminated an employee for secretly searching for confidential documents on her employer’s computer system to use against the employer as part of a discrimination complaint. Massachusetts’...more