New England Biz Law Update

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued updated guidance on employers’ use of criminal background checks in making employment decisions. According to EEOC officials, the new guidance, the first since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which ...

Tagged with: May 31 2012 issue

Where debtors claimed exemptions in 100 percent of the full market value of their residence and car, an objection filed by the Chapter 13 trustee was properly sustained based on Schwab v. Reilly, 130 S. Ct. 2652 (2010).

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue

A state court judgment against a debtor should not have been excepted from discharge under 11 U.S.C. §523(a)(6), as the record does not establish that all elements of the plaintiff’s §523(a)(6) claim were finally determined in the state court litigation.

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue

Where a defendant company was awarded summary judgment in a securities fraud case, the judgment must be affirmed for lack of proof of scienter.

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue

Where plaintiff Peoples Federal Savings Bank has challenged an interlocutory order denying its motion to preliminarily enjoin the defendant People’s United Bank from using the mark “PEOPLES” in the rebranding of several recently acquired banks in Eastern Massachusetts, the judge ...

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue

A diversity action filed in federal court by a plaintiff against her former employer should not have been dismissed in deference to a pending declaratory judgment action that the employer brought earlier in state court.

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue

A $13.3 million judgment — against the insurers of a manufacturer of a power converter that caused wireless communication network outages in 2003 — must be vacated because of an erroneous jury instruction regarding policy language addressing coverage for “loss ...

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue

A judgment holding a company liable for cleanup of a Superfund site must be affirmed based on evidence that the company arranged with the site’s operator for disposal of scrap Pyranol.

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue

When analyzing whether an employer provided a reasonable accommodation, a court should take a “totality of the circumstances” approach and consider whether a combination of accommodations provided by the employer was reasonable.

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue

A plaintiff was not subjected to gender stereotyping when the defendant law school refused to extend her probationary period of employment after she failed to report a colleague’s sexual dalliance with a student.

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue