Working the Law: News and Views on Employment Issues
By Massachusetts Employment Lawyer Jack Merrill
Massachusetts Wrongful Termination Video by Massachusetts employment laywer, Attorney Jack Merriill
Massachusetts employment lawyer, Attorney Jack Merrill provides legal services to employees, employers and businesses throughout the Boston metro west and Worcester County region including Ashland, Dedham, Framingham, Franklin, Hopkinton, Maynard, Marlborough, Milford, Natick, Needham, Newton, Shrewsbury, Sudbury, Waltham, and Worcester, Massachusetts.
Massachusetts courts have been busy in the employment arena lately. In Summer 2009, they issued at least three substantive decisions that may force employers to take quick action on policy manuals, arbitration agreements and wage payment policies.
Though none of the decisions change the law outright, each is employee friendly and stretches employer duties to new lengths. The cases make it easer for workers to use employment manuals as binding contracts, harder for employers to force arbitration in discrimination cases, and more likely that employees will win big damage awards plus legal fees in disputed wage cases.
Employment Manuals In a June 2009 opinion, the district court’s appellate decision affirmed a $42,000 jury verdict for a worker who claimed his company’s employment manual was breached when he was fired. The court relied heavily on the worker’s testimony that he regarded the manual as binding and honored a non-compete clause contained within it. The court also cited to the employer’s request that the employee acknowledge receiving it. [Read more...]
Massachusetts employment lawyer, Attorney Jack Merrill discusses “Getting Laid Off” by your employer in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts employment lawyer, Attorney Jack Merrill provides legal services to employees, employers and businesses throughout the Boston metro west and Worcester County region including Ashland, Dedham, Framingham, Franklin, Hopkinton, Maynard, Marlborough, Milford, Natick, Needham, Newton, Shrewsbury, Sudbury, Waltham, and Worcester, Massachusetts.
In a surprising decision, Massachusetts’ highest court ruled in July that not all arbitration agreements are created equally and, consequently, only some of them are enforceable by employers. When it comes to suits under the state’s anti-discrimination law (Chapter 151B), the language in a workplace arbitration clause must be clear and unequivocal. Unless it demonstrates that an employee specifically bargained away the right to sue at the Commission Against Discrimination or in state court, the worker’s lawsuit for sexual harassment, age or race bias, failure to reasonably accommodate, or other discrimination issues may escape arbitration. That means employers will face the far more difficult and expensive task of defending themselves in front of a jury or at the MCAD or its federal counterpart, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The message for employers is clear: review any and all arbitration agreements you entered with your employees and, if you still believe arbitration of discrimination claims is in the company’s best interest, make sure Chapter 151B is specifically referenced. For many employers, [Read more...]
Wrongful termination is a phrase frequently used by employers and employees alike to cover the whole rubric of potential causes of action that an individual could have against the company when he or she is fired.
Wrongful termination means, simply, that there is some kind of legal action that the an employee may take after being let go by an employer.
There are several discrete categories of wrongful termination in Massachusetts. Under the local law, all employees, unless they have a specific contract that they have negotiated with their employer, either in writing or orally, are At-Will employees. This means they can leave whenever they choose to, or be let go whenever the employer chooses to let them go. There are a couple of very narrow exceptions to the At-Will rule in Massachusetts that would constitute Wrongful Termination under the States Law. The exceptions are:
If any of these factors are in play in your situation when you are let go from work, call me for a consultation.
If you have questions about Massachusetts employment law, consult an qualified Massachusetts employment lawyer before you take action.
Boston employment lawyer, Attorney Jack Merrill provides legal services to employees and employers throughout the Boston metro and Worcester County region including Ashland, Dedham, Framingham, Franklin, Hopkinton, Maynard, Marlborough, Milford, Natick, Needham, Newton, Shrewsbury, Sudbury, Waltham, and Worcester, Massachusetts.
One thing Massachusetts employers must understand is that you are free to do as you see fit with your employees. You can let them go for any reason, at any time, with or without cause. An employer does not need to be concerned about lawsuits as long as they have covered these three basic areas:
For more discussion about “How To Let Your Workers Go“, watch my video:
If you have questions about an employee or any issue regarding Massachusetts employment law, consult an qualified Massachusetts employment lawyer before you take action.
Boston employment lawyer, Attorney Jack Merrill provides legal services to employees and employers throughout the Boston metro and Worcester County region including Ashland, Dedham, Framingham, Franklin, Hopkinton, Maynard, Marlborough, Milford, Natick, Needham, Newton, Shrewsbury, Sudbury, Waltham, and Worcester, Massachusetts.
If there’s one thing Massachusetts courts are making clear lately, it’s that employers better pay their employees what they earn, and they’d better do it on time. They are slapping those who don’t with triple damage awards, adding 12 percent interest, and ordering them to pay their employees’ legal fees. When the bill comes due, employers have good reason to question both their own judgment and that of the well-paid lawyers who advised them.
The Massachusetts Wage Act now says that triple damage awards to employees are mandatory. Workers who don’t get what’s owed to them on time also get their lawyer fees paid by the company. Courts are running hard on these points, showing little sympathy for employers, even those who make good faith errors, and interpreting gray areas in favor of employees. Employers need to understand this and get good legal advice before withholding disputed wages.
In a case I recently tried, Countrywide Home Loans was ordered to pay my client more than $130,000 after refusing to give him deferred bonuses and commissions that totaled about $30,000. In another case, a local attorney was ordered to pay $519,000 plus interest after he failed to pay a referral fee to another lawyer. In both of these cases, the law was read expansively to favor the plaintiff. The message to employers is clear: when in doubt, settle wage disputes or just pay what’s due to your employees. And, by the way, make sure the lawyer you rely on is well versed in this area of law.
Massachusetts employment lawyer Attorney Jack Merrill provides legal services to employees, employers and businesses throughout the Boston metro west and Worcester County region including Ashland, Dedham, Framingham, Franklin, Hopkinton, Maynard, Marlborough, Milford, Natick, Needham, Newton, Shrewsbury, Sudbury, Waltham, and Worcester, Massachusetts.
The political bent of the U.S. Supreme Court is once again on display in Washington. This time, the issue is reverse discrimination, a term generally used to challenge the effects that affirmative action may have on white men.
In a case argued April 22, 2009, white and Hispanic firefighters from New Haven, Connecticut are challenging a city decision to ignore promotional exam results. The 2003 test was created to determine who’d be promoted to captain or lieutenant. When no African Americans scored high enough, New Haven officials worried they’d be sued by minorities and so decided to disregard the test. Instead of avoiding trouble, however, New Haven brought it on themselves. Non-minority firefighters who passed the test now claim they worked hard on what they thought was a fair process only to be denied promotion because of their race.
The Supreme Court will decide whether New Haven’s conduct was discriminatory or not. As usual, the supposedly apolitical Court is split along partisan lines. Discrimination laws are not popular among [Read more...]
It’s commonly known as the “Stimulus Bill,” and is officially called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This is the huge federal bill passed in February at the urging of President Barack Obama. While the overall idea was to stimulate the American economy, included in the bill’s details are unexpected benefits like the one that laid off employees will enjoy under COBRA. As most know, this federal law guarantees continued health care coverage for workers who lose their jobs, regardless of the reason. Under the Stimulus Bill, employers now must cover 65% of the COBRA premium for employees fired – or laid off, if that term is preferred, the distinction being meaningless in this context – between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009. This percentage must be paid for up to nine months, but applies only to periods of time between [Read more...]
Massachusetts employment lawyer Jack Merrill specializes in employment law and has over 20 years of employment law, business, and litigation experience.