New England Biz Law Update

Workers who allege that their employer retaliated against them must meet a higher burden than merely showing that the desire to retaliate was one motivating factor, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that vacates a $3.4 million ...

Tagged with: Aug. 31 2013 issue

The new regulations under the Affordable Care Act allow employers to offer bigger rewards for workplace wellness programs that incentivize employees to improve their health, but the rules fail to give guidance on whether such programs could run afoul of ...

Tagged with: Aug. 31 2013 issue

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the federal Defense of Marriage Act’s refusal to recognize state same-sex marriages was unconstitutional, employers are scrambling to figure out how far they have to go in changing their employee benefit ...

Tagged with: Aug. 31 2013 issue

All in attendance sat up and took notice when midway through a three-day conference on employment compliance, a branch chief of the U.S. Department of Labor’s enforcement division said that the agency expects to increase on-site investigations into whether companies ...

Tagged with: July 1 2013 issue

In an effort to fend off an actual audit of their books, one of the major tobacco companies hired a law firm to look into whether it was classifying its 5,000 workers correctly.

Tagged with: April 30 2013 issue

In a major milestone in the smartphone patent wars, a federal jury has found that Apple’s iPhone infringes on three patents with respect to the camera feature and the handling and rejection of calls.

Tagged with: February 28 2013 issue

The owners of a company who sought second opinions from tax experts after disagreeing with their accountant’s advice were time-barred from suing the accountant for malpractice, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has found. 

Tagged with: February 28 2013 issue

A new program that allows certain undocumented immigrants to receive temporary work authorization is not on most employers’ radar screens even though they can get into trouble if their employees file under the program.

Tagged with: Nov. 30 2012 issue

Like other factors that increase a criminal defendant’s sentence, facts that determine the amount of criminal fines imposed on a defendant must be decided beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 6-3 ...

Tagged with: July 31 2012 issue

Since last year, when generic drug makers won a victory on the issue of federal preemption before the U.S. Supreme Court, lower courts have been dismissing cases against generic drug makers left and right.

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue