Employee – Employment Law

Employees may be Free to Speak their Minds, but Employers are Free to React

Free speech is not always free. That seemingly obvious point was apparently lost on Google employee James Damore, a man making headlines recently after he was fired for writing a … more →

Noncompetition Agreement Legislation Appears No Closer to Passage in Massachusetts

The effort to regulate the use of noncompetition agreements continues to languish in a legislative committee, where most of several competing proposals were referred early in 2017. Alongside them – … more →

Employers Get Another Reason to Carefully Review and Comply with Wage Laws

It’s no surprise that the reach of Massachusetts’ wage laws is long, and most employers know they need to carefully abide them if they want to avoid potentially dire effects. … more →

Reasonable Accommodation Laws Apply to Use of Medical Marijuana in Massachusetts

If there was any doubt that employers need to be careful about disciplining employees who use medical marijuana, it was ended today by the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC). It held … more →

Supreme Judicial Court Rules that Employees get Interest on Unpaid Wages but not Statutory Penalties

The Supreme Judicial Court this week issued its latest interpretation of the Massachusetts Wage Act, Mass. Gen. L. ch. 150, §§148-150. It ruled that prejudgment interest on unpaid wages and … more →

Court Holds Individual Supervisor Liable under Family and Medical Leave Act

In a case of first impression in Massachusetts, a federal judge ruled that individual supervisors can be personally liable to employees for violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act. … more →

New Year Brings Renewed Efforts to Pass Non-compete Legislation in Massachusetts

Proponents in the Massachusetts Legislature may have lost several battles, but they have not given up the war. Early in the current legislative session, no fewer than six proposed laws … more →

Employer Learns Reasonable Accommodation Lesson that’s Instructive to All

The Supreme Judicial Court recently clarified the legal hurdles employers must satisfy when defending claims that they failed to reasonably accommodate their disabled employees. In doing so, it gave one … more →

Federal Courts Move Toward Ban Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination

A U.S. Federal Court this week lent more weight to the notion that a federal law that bans employment discrimination applies to employers whose conduct is motivated by their employees’ … more →

MCAD Decision: Employer Duty to Reasonably Accommodate Handicapped Employees is Extremely Broad

In the usual case, employers that receive reasonable accommodation requests from their employees try to help. They may adjust a work schedule, grant a leave of absence, or even modify … more →