For years, most observers believed that the Massachusetts Personnel Records Statute (MPRS) – which requires Massachusetts employers with 20 or more employees to maintain a personnel record for each employee – imposed minimal...more
On December 17, 2021, the highest state court in Massachusetts held that an employer may not terminate an employee solely for exercising his right to file a rebuttal to be included in his personnel file....more
The highest court in Massachusetts just ruled that employers may be subject to liability under the state’s domestic violence leave law even if employees don’t explicitly request such leave, creating a potential liability trap...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a February 12, 2020 decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that future commissions a plaintiff would have earned but for her retaliatory termination were subject to trebling under the...more
In a February 12, 2020 decision, Parker v. EnerNOC, Inc., SJC-12703, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that the full commission which would have been due to an employee had she not been retaliated against and...more
In Massachusetts, a commission is a wage subject to the Wage Act when the amount of the commission “has been definitely determined and has become due and payable.” Accordingly, an employer’s failure to pay a commission which...more
On February 12, 2020, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued an opinion with significant implications for Massachusetts employers with commissioned employees. In Parker v. EnerNOC, Inc. (SJC-12703), the SJC...more
Imagine, an employee in your organization advises that they need to take leave pursuant to the Family and Medical Leave Act to recover from an upcoming surgical procedure. Your organization approves the leave and then you...more
An important new Supreme Judicial Court decision has paved the way for Massachusetts employees pursuing certain discrimination claims to engage in what the court has dubbed “self-help discovery.” This new variant of...more
Last week’s Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) decision in Esler v. Sylvia-Reardon serves as an important reminder of the potential scope of employees’ rights under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)....more