Retaliation

Court Rules that Employers Cannot Punish Employees for Rebutting Negative Personnel File Material

After about three years of litigation that featured a dismissal of his lawsuit and a loss at the Massachusetts Court of Appeals, a former employee of Medical Information Technology, Inc., … 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 →

EEOC Working on New Anti-Harassment Guidance

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is currently working on new guidance to help analyze and decide claims involving harassment in the workplace. The new rules promise to bolster enforcement … more →

Good Faith Interactive Process is Key to Properly Handling Accommodation Issues

Most employers know (though some, incredibly, still do not) that they are obligated by law to reasonably accommodate disabled employees. After that, there are several areas of knowledge breakdown that … more →

EEOC Urges Employers to Improve Workplace Anti-Harassment Training

Calling workplace harassment an “all too persistent problem,” two commissioners from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) are calling on employers to rework and improve their anti-harassment training programs. The … more →

Massachusetts Legislators Debate Bill to Provide 12 Weeks of Paid Leave for Employees

The Massachusetts state legislature is considering a bill that would not only provide family leave for employees who now are not entitled to it, but would set up a fund … more →

Massachusetts Amends Maternity Leave Act to Cover Both Men and Women

It’s official: men are equal to women when it comes to maternity leave in the Commonwealth. Some 6-plus years after the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) announced that it would … more →

New Domestic Violence Law Provides 15 Days of Leave to Covered Employees

Employees of large companies who experience domestic violence, either directly or through family members, now enjoy greater legal protection as the recently enacted domestic violence protection law enters its first … more →

Government Agency Learns Hard Way the Potential Cost of Retaliating for a Wage Complaint

Not even a government agency, it seems, can escape the potentially dire consequences of violating the Massachusetts Wage Act, even when an employee enjoys civil service protection that many thought, … more →

Whistle Blowers and Massachusetts Law

When an employee decides it’s time to blow the whistle on employer misconduct or that of a fellow worker, employees are well advised to do a bit of homework first. … more →