New England Biz Law Update

Beginning in January of last year, Massachusetts employees became eligible for a new state-sponsored benefit that provides up to 26 weeks of job protected leave for medical and family reasons. Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) is separate from the federal ...

Terminating an employee in Massachusetts? Have a check in hand. That’s the takeaway from a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruling that recently awarded an employee triple damages for late payment of some accrued benefits. When Beth Reuter was terminated ...

Many employers rely on background checks when making important hiring decisions. In doing so, they need to comply with a patchwork of local, state, and federal laws. While federal law does not generally bar criminal background checks, state and local ...

Individuals making complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) can now select a nonbinary “X” gender marker during voluntary self-identification questions. Making the announcement on Transgender Day of Visibility, the EEOC indicated it will allow employees filing discrimination claims ...

A former Delta flight attendant has lost her bid to sue the airline over an alleged sexual assault by a pilot. The plaintiff argued that the airline was liable because the pilot was a supervisor, but a federal district court ...

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced it’s taking a tougher stance on corporate wrongdoing and white collar crime. Messages from the DOJ indicate that the agency is stepping up enforcement in virtually all areas of white collar crime. Two ...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments over whether Southwest baggage handlers are “engaged in interstate commerce” and therefore exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act. The Arbitration Act generally requires courts to uphold contracts that include forced arbitration clauses. However, ...

A staffing firm is facing a $1.5 million fine after an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) found the company liable for I-9 violations. The family-owned staffing agency has offices in Washington and Oregon. While they employ fewer than 50 fulltime employees, ...

A Massachusetts judge sitting in the state’s Superior Court Business Litigation Session has ruled that an email from a client to its litigation counsel seeking feedback on a draft press release embedded in the email’s text was protected by the ...

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a reminder that employers who discriminate against caregivers in the workplace may violate federal law. While caregivers are not explicitly called out in federal employment laws, certain assumptions can lead employers to ...