App-Based Workers as Employees? Back to the SJC Before Back to the Ballot
Boston Lawyer | Employment Law Blog
by Jennifer M. Herrmann
1M ago
The ongoing battle over the employment rights of app-based drivers reached a new stage last week, when a group of drivers and union leaders brought a lawsuit to block a new set of ballot measures aimed at exempting app-based drivers from employment protections.  When workers are categorized as employees, rather than independent contractors, the law requires their employer to provide them with certain benefits and protections. In Massachusetts, the test for determining who is an employee for purposes of the Wage Act is particularly inclusive. In the growing gig economy, providing gig worke ..read more
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Massachusetts Proposed Legislation Would Create Broad Workplace Protections Against Bullying and Abuse at Work
Boston Lawyer | Employment Law Blog
by Lucie Gulino
2M ago
Massachusetts could become the first state in the country to enact a broad workplace anti-abuse law intended to hold employers liable for perpetuating, condoning, or ignoring psychological abuse at work. On October 10, 2023, Massachusetts had the highest number of advocates in the nation ever testify in front of the legislature in favor of anti-abuse legislation in the workplace. Workers, employment attorneys, human resources professionals and others urged the Massachustts Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development to pass the Workplace Psychological Safety Act. The committee has unti ..read more
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Supreme Judicial Court Hears Argument on the Interaction Between Commissions and Overtime Pay Requirements
Boston Lawyer | Employment Law Blog
by Jennifer M. Herrmann
6M ago
This month, the Supreme Judicial Court heard argument in Sutton v. Jordan’s Furniture. This case addresses questions about how commission-based pay plans can be structured to comply with the Wage Act, Overtime, and now-repealed Sunday Pay laws.  The Statutes and Past Interpretation  Massachusetts’ overtime statute requires employers to pay employees time and a half for hours worked in excess of forty hours in a work week. Until it was repealed this year, the Sunday Pay statute similarly required a higher rate of pay for hours worked on Sundays. The Massachusetts Wage Act sets out re ..read more
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“I Quit!” What You Need to Know About the Law Before You Resign:
Boston Lawyer | Employment Law Blog
by Emma Quinn-Judge
1y ago
If you are an at-will employee, you have the right to quit your job at any time. And there may be compelling reasons to leave immediately. But quitting your job will affect your legal rights, so before you resign, here are some things to consider.   Can I collect unemployment?  You may not be able to collect unemployment if you quit. In Massachusetts, if you choose to resign, you will not be eligible for unemployment unless you show that you left (a) for good cause attributable to your employer; or (b) for urgent and compelling personal reasons. When you quit, the burden will b ..read more
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Harrison vs. MBTA: Appeals Court Limits Protection for Commonwealth Workers
Boston Lawyer | Employment Law Blog
by Jennifer M. Herrmann
1y ago
Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Appeals Court limited protections available to public employees in Harrison vs. MBTA, holding that sovereign immunity protects public employers from claims brought under the employee misclassification and anti-retaliation provisions of G.L. c. 149.   In general, sovereign immunity is a legal doctrine that protects a government from being sued. The Massachusetts government, like most governments, has created certain exceptions to the doctrine, so that the state can be sued under limited circumstances. Unfortunately, as decided in Harrison, employ ..read more
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Back to School Basics: Teachers, Employees, and Title IX
Boston Lawyer | Employment Law Blog
by Monica Shah
1y ago
What Teachers and Other School Employees Need to Know About Title IX    While many people think of Title IX as a law that applies only to students, in fact the law does not mention students at all. The language of the statute is: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Professors, teachers, and other employees of educational programs are protected by Title IX, and also have obligation ..read more
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David Russcol Defeats Summary Judgment Motion in Federal Unpaid Wage and Sexual Harassment Case
Boston Lawyer | Employment Law Blog
by Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein LLP
1y ago
Earlier this week, a federal judge largely denied the defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment in a case alleging that a nonprofit operating group homes on Cape Cod coerced our client into working long hours for no cash wages for nearly two years, and allowed her to be sexually harassed by her supervisor. David Russcol convinced the court that issues such as whether our client is exempt from the state minimum wage law and whether she was subjected to unlawful retaliation rest on factual determinations that must be made by a jury ..read more
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SJC Prevents Ballot Measure Removing App-Based Drivers from Employment Protections
Boston Lawyer | Employment Law Blog
by Ana Muñoz
1y ago
The SJC struck an initiative from November’s ballot that, if approved, would have created a new class of “app-based driver” not subject to many bedrock employment laws. In Koussa v. Attorney General, the Court held that the proposed initiative raised too many different policy questions, and, thus, did not meet constitutional requirements for petitions. Because Massachusetts law only allows ballot initiatives that present voters with “related” and “mutually dependent” issues, the Court held that the Attorney General should not have allowed the initiative onto the ballot. The Massachusetts Decla ..read more
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Boston Employee Seeks Supreme Court Review of First Circuit’s Narrow Reading of Title VII’s Anti-Retaliation Provisions
Boston Lawyer | Employment Law Blog
by Jennifer M. Herrmann
2y ago
Title VII promises to protect employees who oppose workplace discrimination and harassment in good faith.  Over time, judicial opinions have eroded this protection by creating an exception that has allowed employers to discipline employees if the employer deems that the manner of the employee’s complaints was insubordinate or disruptive. Last fall, the First Circuit affirmed this exception in a panel decision in Jenkins v. Housing Court Department. In that case, a Black Costa Rican employee emailed multiple discrimination complaints to his supervisors and various staff. The employer then ..read more
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SJC Protects Employees from Retaliation in New Decision
Boston Lawyer | Employment Law Blog
by Naomi Shatz
2y ago
On Friday the Supreme Judicial Court handed employees a decisive victory, holding in Meehan v. Medical Information Technology, Inc. that employers cannot retaliate against employees who exercise their statutory rights to file rebuttals in their personnel record. In so holding, the SJC overturned a decision of the Appeals Court from earlier this year (which we discussed on this blog). The Appeals Court had held that while the state’s personnel records law gives employees the right to submit written responses to documents in their personnel recor ..read more
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