New England Biz Law Update

On Nov. 20, the Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division announced changes to its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Corporate Enforcement Policy. The policy, which began as a pilot program in April 2016 and was formally introduced in ...

A federal judge has ruled that a Rhode Island man’s suit against the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth for what he calls “constructive expulsion” can proceed to trial. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Stearns in Boston determined that John Harnois, a ...

The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination’s recently adopted policy regarding the disclosure of charges in open cases conflicts with its own regulations, the state Appeals Court has found. With its Nov. 19 ruling, the court overturned the decision of Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Rosemary Connolly that ...

In December, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court will hear arguments related to Gov. Charlie Baker’s emergency regulation banning the sale of nicotine vaping products. Baker’s administration had appealed an Oct. 21 order of the state Superior Court, which had allowed ...

A financial advisor who claimed she was subjected to gender discrimination and retaliation by UBS Financial Services and its market manager in Boston, James E. Ducey, has been awarded $1,633,019 following arbitration. Christine Carona was awarded damages, attorneys’ fees, and ...

The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed a rule that would allow employers that do not take a “tip credit” to establish a pool to be shared between workers who receive tips and are paid the full minimum wage and ...

A Whitman DoorDash driver must arbitrate a class action complaint alleging that the online food delivery dispatcher violated state law by failing to pay him minimum wage and overtime, a federal judge in Massachusetts has ruled. In December 2017, Darnell ...

Undergraduate and graduate students at private colleges and universities who perform services for financial compensation in connection with their studies would not be entitled to collective bargaining rights pursuant to federal labor law under a rule recently proposed by the ...

Federal lawsuits have been filed challenging the emergency four-month ban in Massachusetts on sales of e-cigarette products. Vapor Technology Association and some of its member retailers filed suit in U.S. District Court on Oct. 1, days after three vape shops sued Gov. ...

Massachusetts has a new law enabling public sector unions to recover costs associated with representing non-members after the state Legislature completed an override of Gov. Charlie Baker’s veto of the so-called Janus bill. The state Senate voted 39-1 on Sept. 19 to ...