On March 28, 2024, in Sutton v. Jordan’s Furniture, Inc., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) upheld a Massachusetts Superior Court decision finding the furniture retailer’s commission-based compensation scheme...more
4/30/2024
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
MA Supreme Judicial Court ,
Over-Time ,
Private Right of Action ,
Retailers ,
Sales Commissions ,
State Labor Laws ,
Treble Damages ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage Act ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules
On April 14, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled that when an employee pursues and succeeds on a claim for the failure to pay overtime wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the employee may...more
On December 17, 2021, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled that an employee discharged for submitting a written rebuttal to his employer in response to the placement of negative information in his personnel...more
12/23/2021
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Appeals ,
At-Will Employment ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
MA Supreme Judicial Court ,
Personnel Records ,
Public Policy ,
Rebuttal ,
Wrongful Termination
On June 10, 2021, the First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a plaintiff’s lawsuit alleging, among other things, failure to pay wages under the Massachusetts Wage Act. In Rose v. RTN Federal Credit Union, the...more
7/7/2021
/ Appeals ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Dismissals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA) ,
Preemption ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Law Claims ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage Act ,
Wages
As employers reopen their businesses following closures or reductions in operations required during the COVID-19 pandemic, many are grappling with the fraught and complex task of bringing laid-off or furloughed employees back...more
Like many states, Rhode Island has enacted a statute that governs the use of drug tests in the employment context. Under Rhode Island’s drug-testing statute, R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-6.5-1(a)(1), an employer may require an...more
In Mui v. Massachusetts Port Authority, issued on January 29, 2018, Massachusetts’s highest court decided an issue of first impression in the Commonwealth: whether accrued but unused paid sick time counts as “wages” for...more