New England Biz Law Update

A former worker for a Chinese restaurant chain could satisfy the numerosity requirement for certification of a class action claim for unpaid “reporting pay,” even though the number of putative class members was unclear, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ...

A former Honeywell employee’s disability discrimination lawsuit was barred by her consistent assertion of total disability in pursuing Social Security Disability Income benefits, a divided panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. Plaintiff Mayra F. Pena ...

A federal judge has resurrected payroll reporting guidelines adopted during the Obama administration that require large employers to break down wages and salaries according to the sex, race and ethnicity of their employees. On March 4, U.S. District Court Judge ...

A decision by a federal judge in Boston provides a rare glimpse into the internal dynamics of the relationship between the primary and excess liability insurers for a personal injury defendant prior to an unexpected multi-million-dollar verdict that sparked a ...

The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed a rule revising and clarifying the responsibilities of employers in joint-employer arrangements that features a new four-factor test for determining joint-employer status. The inquiry under the proposed rule focuses on whether the alleged joint ...

A recent U.S. District Court decision has brought to the front burner the question of whether arbitration actually delivers on its promise of providing a means for the cost-effective and speedy resolution of business disputes. In CellInfo, LLC v. American ...

Former employees of Putnam Investments can proceed with an ERISA class action against their former employer and other plan fiduciaries based on allegations that they suffered losses as a result of the investment options selected for their 401(k) plan, the ...

The drumbeat of defeat for plaintiffs fighting arbitration clauses has been put on pause at the U.S. Supreme Court — at least temporarily — with a recent decision allowing a New England truck driver to proceed with his wage class ...

An indictment unsealed in federal court in Boston serves as a stark warning to lawyers and their clients of the increasing regulatory risk posed by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s use of advanced analytics to detect illicit trading activity. On ...

A divided National Labor Relations Board has proposed a new rule that raises the bar for establishing joint-employer status, effectively reversing one of the board’s more controversial decisions issued when it was controlled by appointees of President Obama. Under the ...