New England Biz Law Update

The Rhode Island Supreme Court has upheld a trial judge’s decision that prevents a commercial business from using an abutting diner’s parking area to make deliveries. The plaintiff diner, arguing trespass, sought a preliminary injunction to preclude delivery trucks from ...

An insurance company could not terminate an information technology analyst’s long-term disability benefits without assessing the physical and cognitive demands of his occupation, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided. The insurer found the appellant analyst no longer ...

A department store could not be held liable for failing to accommodate a diabetic sales associate’s request to work only a midday shift, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in a split decision. The defendant employer argued ...

A $2 million jury verdict holding a manufacturer of plastic film products liable for breaching a settlement agreement with a broker has been upheld by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals even though the broker waited almost two years ...

A class action seeking more than $5 million for wage and hour violations should not have been remanded following removal from state to federal court, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided. The plaintiffs, shift supervisors for defendant ...

A plaintiff limited liability company that engaged in litigation over an asset purchase agreement waived its right to demand arbitration under that agreement, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. “[T]he plaintiff’s belated resort to arbitration was anything ...

A criminal investigator for Rhode Island’s Department of Environmental Management could sue the state under the whistleblower statute for actions taken against him after he reported his suspicions about possible misconduct by higher-ranking officials, a Superior Court judge has decided. ...

A judge should not have ruled against stockholders challenging the fairness of a corporate merger without first affording them an opportunity to conduct additional discovery, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has found. The plaintiff shareholders argued that summary ...

An applicant whose claim for long-term disability benefits was denied by a plan administrator is entitled to recover the fees she incurred in obtaining a remand order on appeal, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in a ...

A jewelry manufacturer could sue the operator of a retail store chain over unauthorized sales of merchandise, a U.S. District Court judge in Rhode Island has ruled. The defendant retailer argued that, in obtaining the merchandise from a number of ...