On November 16, 2022, the US House of Representatives passed the Speak Out Act, after the US Senate unanimously passed the Act in September 2022. The Act will head next to President Biden’s desk, where he is expected to sign...more
On July 26, 2022, Massachusetts joined seventeen other states which prohibit race discrimination based on natural hairstyles when Governor Charlie Baker signed the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair...more
On April 14, 2022, in Devaney v. Zucchini Gold, LLC, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, ruled that the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) preempts state remedies...more
On March 24, 2022, in the case of Patel v. 7-Eleven, Inc. (No. SJC-13166), the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, ruled that whether a franchisee is an independent contractor...more
On March 3, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (the “Act”). The Act voids pre-dispute arbitration agreements that require a party to...more
A California appellate court has ruled that a wrongful death action filed by an employee and her children arising from the death of the employee's spouse from COVID-19 after she allegedly contracted the virus at work and...more
On October 13, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) once again issued updated FAQs concerning the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title...more
10/27/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Confidentiality Policies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EEO ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Religious Exemption ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The Massachusetts Department of Family Medical Leave (DFML), which administers the Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) law in Massachusetts has published important information regarding an increase in the amount of weekly...more
Large employers should soon have specific guidance on complying with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) vaccine and testing mandate. On September 9, President Biden announced that OSHA would issue an...more
On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced that COVID-19 vaccinations will be mandatory for a significant swath of the United States workforce. The White House announced a comprehensive, six-pronged plan to combat...more
9/13/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Healthcare Workers ,
OSHA ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Non-compete agreements have recently come under attack across the country, both at the state and federal levels. Massachusetts passed legislation in 2018 that imposed additional requirements on employers in order for their...more
Both practical and legal issues will need to be resolved, but as of today, the EEOC has signaled that mandatory COVID vaccinations are lawful for the vast majority of employees.
On December 16, 2020, the Equal Employment...more
12/17/2020
/ ADEA ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
GINA ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
Vaccinations
In Automile Holdings, LLC v. McGovern, 483 Mass. 797, 136 N.E.3d 1207 (2020), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld the validity of an anti-raiding provision against a former employee. This ruling is significant in...more
As businesses in Massachusetts and elsewhere continue to carefully re-open it will be necessary to pay close attention to guidance from the CDC and state authorities.
As of August 1, all travelers to Massachusetts must...more
In a landmark ruling issued during Pride month, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting gender discrimination in employment, bars employers from discriminating against...more
6/16/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
The Massachusetts economy has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 23, 2020, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker ordered the mandatory shutdown of non-essential businesses, curtailed essential business...more
The workers’ compensation system was created to ensure that employees who suffer work-related accidents or illnesses are compensated while, at the same time, protecting employers from lawsuits by these employees. It was a...more
As coronavirus infections begin to abate in some parts of the United States, employers are contemplating how to safely and efficiently return to work. It will not be easy.
In the absence of adequate testing and other...more
4/29/2020
/ ADEA ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
NLRA ,
OSHA ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Virus Testing
What questions may employers ask their employees about their health status in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic? In today’s episode, Valerie Samuels and Michael Stevens address what’s permissible under the ADA and state and...more
On February 26, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (the NLRB) issued its final rule governing joint employer status under the National Labor Relations Act (the NLRA). The final rule replaces the Obama administration’s...more
2/28/2020
/ Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Rules ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
The Massachusetts Superior Court’s recent decision in Burke v. The General Hospital Corp. et. al., provides critical insight into the limitations of the attorney-client privilege as it applies to investigation reports...more