New England Biz Law Update

Does the adage “no good deed goes unpunished” apply to employers that fail to pay wages to hourly employees during volunteer events? Not necessarily, according to a recent U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Opinion Letter. Per the Opinion Letter, to ...

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 ...

On March 22, a federal judge permitted an Ohio man’s class action lawsuit to proceed against Ford Motor Company.  The lawsuit alleges the company discriminated against disabled job applicants because its online job application wasn’t fully accessible.  In the past, ...

The Massachusetts Wage Act provides that an employee who “prevails” in an action to recover unpaid wages “shall … be awarded the costs of the litigation and reasonable attorneys’ fees.” This “fee-shifting” provision is an exception to well-established “American Rule” under which ...

Over the last decade, courts around the country have been asked to decide whether ERISA preempts state slayer statutes – state laws that prohibit a murderer from collecting benefits as the beneficiary of the victim’s estate or as the surviving ...

In Lukas v. Unidine Corp., et al., Judge Davis held that, under the Massachusetts Wage Act, G.L.c. 149, §148, employee commissions can be conditioned on receipt of customer payments on which the commissions are based. Judge Davis found that the Wage Act ...

On March 7, 2019, after more than two years of speculation, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) finally proposed its new overtime rule. Under the proposed rule, the minimum salary a worker would have to be paid to qualify for ...

Judge Sanders certified a class of more than 18,000 Six Flags seasonal employees complaining that the amusement park failed to pay overtime. The park pays its seasonal employees on an hourly basis, but not overtime. In support of this policy, ...

On February 19, 2019, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) adopted an employee-friendly standard for determining whether a plaintiff is entitled to an award of attorneys’ fees under the Massachusetts Wage Act where his or her claims are resolved by ...

Seyfarth Synopsis: With the seemingly random workplace violence that continues unabated, many employers are again asking how best to protect their employees. We had blogged previously about “Workplace Violence Prevention: DHS Promotes “Active Shooter Preparedness” Programs – Is Your Company Ready?” ...