A recent opinion from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania serves a win to a medical marijuana card-holder who brought claims against an employer under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), the Pennsylvania Medical...more
6/4/2025
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Drug Testing ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Pennsylvania ,
Plant Based Products ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Screening Procedures ,
State Labor Laws
In Medical Marijuana, Inc. et al v. Horn, 604 U.S. ___ (2025), the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) engaged in a lively statutory interpretation debate over the reach of the civil provisions of the Racketeer...more
4/21/2025
/ Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Products ,
Damages ,
Employment Litigation ,
False Advertising ,
Manufacturers ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana Inc et al v Horn ,
Plant Based Products ,
RICO ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
THC
In a refreshing break for business in the Bay State, two recent appellate court decisions have confirmed that legitimate independent contractor relationships are alive and well in Massachusetts. Those decisions are Patel, et...more
On September 5, 2024, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) answered a second certified question in Patel, et al. v. 7-Eleven, Inc., et al. (“Patel II”), a long-running case where 7-Eleven franchisees claimed they...more
9/25/2024
/ 7-Eleven ,
Employee Definition ,
Employees ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
MA Supreme Judicial Court
On May 25, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey granted an employer’s motion to dismiss a putative class action in Zanetich v. Wal-Mart Stores E., Inc. Addressing an issue of first impression, the...more
6/6/2023
/ Cannabis Products ,
Drug Testing ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Marijuana ,
New Jersey ,
Recreational Use ,
State Labor Laws ,
Workplace Safety
On March 17, 2023, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania issued a decision regarding employee use of medical marijuana in the workers’ compensation context. The decision in Fegley v. Firestone Tire & Rubber (Workers’ Comp....more
Introduction -
On July 13, 2022, the Massachusetts Appeals Court issued a decision in Tiger Home Inspection, Inc. v. Dir. of the Dep’t of Unemployment Assistance. The Appeals Court held that home inspectors were...more
On April 4, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court adopted an even more employee-friendly approach to damages for Wage Act violations in the Bay State. In Reuter v. City of Methuen, No. SJC-13121 (Mass. April 4,...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On March 24, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) issued a much-anticipated decision in Patel, et al. v. 7-Eleven, Inc., et al. answering a certified question from the United States Court...more
We have written a lot about the pluses and minuses of requiring arbitration of employment disputes. The arithmetic is complicated and employers come to different sums....more
In comparing arbitration to litigation, it would be misleading to compare the time, cost and risk of resolving a case at an arbitration hearing to the time, cost and risk of resolving a case at trial. After all, in most...more
In recent years, a new factor has entered the equation for employers considering employee arbitration programs: mass arbitration....more
We continue our series examining whether an employment arbitration program can help minimize legal risks from COVID-19 and beyond by considering another question employers should ask when deciding whether to adopt an...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: This series (Is Arbitration the Answer? and Can Arbitration Agreements Protect Employers Against Class Actions?) examines whether an employee arbitration program can help minimize legal risks from COVID-19...more
This series (Is Arbitration the Answer? and Can Arbitration Agreements Protect Employers Against Class Actions?) examines whether an employee arbitration program can help minimize legal risks from COVID-19 and beyond....more
This series examines whether an employee arbitration program can help minimize legal risks from COVID-19 and beyond.
For many employers, an important reason for rolling out arbitration is a desire to avoid class and...more
Most employers have seen the forecasts. The waves of employees let go in the COVID crisis will file a surge of employment claims. Worse, plaintiffs’ lawyers will scrutinize the many changes required by the pandemic and...more
In a recent decision, Palmiter v. Commonwealth Health Systems, the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas held that: (a) the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act (“MMA”) creates a private right of action for wrongful termination;...more
2/4/2020
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Private Right of Action ,
Public Policy ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Wrongful Termination
Seyfarth Synopsis: Employers are grappling with the wave of marijuana laws sweeping the nation, some of which provide very employee-friendly protections....more
Among the most common types of wage and hour lawsuits in Massachusetts are independent contractor misclassification suits. These actions arise when an individual who provides a service claims that: (1) he or she was...more
Even fair-minded employers, with sound policies, face “off-the-clock” claims. That is, employers have to defend against lawsuits in which employees argue that they worked hours for which their employers failed to pay them. ...more
Effective July 1, 2018, the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act (the “Act”) requires employers to pay employees of different genders equal wages for comparable work unless the difference in pay is explained by the Act’s enumerated...more
Tip #1: Consider An Arbitration Agreement—With A Class Action Waiver -
Until recently, there has been much debate about the enforceability of arbitration agreements containing class action waivers. Courts disagreed as to...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On September 5, 2018, a federal district court in Connecticut granted summary judgment to a job applicant after an employer refused to hire her because she tested positive for marijuana in a pre-employment...more
9/14/2018
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Contractors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Zero Tolerance Policies
On March 9, 2018, the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (“CCC”) filed its much anticipated recreational marijuana Regulations with the Massachusetts Secretary of State. ...more
4/3/2018
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Employee Rights ,
Licensing Rules ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
New Regulations ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
State and Local Government