In the recent case of Capron v. Office of Attorney Gen. of Mass., the federal First Circuit Court of Appeals issued an interesting ruling regarding the intersection of federal and state law, affirming a U.S. District Court order of dismissal providing that state wage...
Employment
Massachusetts District Court Applies Precondition Test to Determine That Employees Are Not Entitled to Overtime Pay for Employee-Required Training
In a recent Memorandum and Order, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts District Court granted summary judgment to a group of defendant banks after applying a "precondition" test established by the First Circuit regarding overtime pay to...
First Circuit Holds that Employee’s Termination Not Violative of Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing
In the recent case of Suzuki v. Abiomed, Inc., the First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a U.S. District Court order granting summary judgment to the defendant employer, holding that the company's termination of an employee approximately fifteen months prior to the...
A Disloyal Corporate Officer, Ordered to Forfeit His Compensation To His Employer, Fails in His Attempt to Reduce The Amount of Restitution Under the Joint Tortfeasors Act
In a case of first impression, the Business Litigation Session (Davis, J.) recently declined to reduce the amount of restitution a disloyal corporate officer had been ordered to pay to his employer in connection with a judgment against the corporate officer. In so...
Supreme Court Holds That Federal Arbitration Act Permits Litigation of Disputes By Workers Bound by Independent Contractor Agreements
The United States Supreme Court held in the unanimous decision of New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira earlier this year that the Federal Arbitration Act's exclusion as to contracts of employment necessitated that the parties' arbitration clause be overridden and the plaintiff...
Court Grants Summary Judgment to Employer on Former Employee’s Claim of Gender-Based Associational Discrimination and Retaliation
In Baer v. Montachusett Regional Technical School District (D. Mass. May 17, 2019), the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted summary judgment to an employer on a former employee's claim that he was discriminated and retaliated against...
Commission Payments Are “Compensation” Under the Massachusetts Wage Act
The Massachusetts Wage Act, M. G. L. c. 149, § 148, governs how and when an employee's wages must be paid and provides that an employer who fails to comply with the Wage Act may be subject to treble damages and be ordered to pay the attorneys' fees of the employee who...
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