New England Biz Law Update

In a case of first impression, a federal appeals court has ruled that long-haul truckers driving as a team are entitled to be paid for “sleeper berth time” in excess of eight hours in a 24-hour period. The employer, defendant ...

A Massachusetts trial court judge has ruled that an Illinois resident cannot sue his Massachusetts-based employer under the state Wage Act for allegedly failing to pay him commissions on time following his termination. Plaintiff John Musachia, who briefly worked as ...

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division released its semi-annual regulatory agenda, indicating that it would continue to pursue major rule changes related to worker classification and overtime exemptions. White-collar thresholds: The DOL has set an April ...

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce recently passed two bills related to workforce training and two regarding labor rights. The committee approved a bipartisan measure to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which funds federal job ...

A Massachusetts federal judge has refused to release jurisdiction over local wage claims against a Texas employer, overriding jurisdictional arguments and contractual provisions linking aspects of the employment relationship to Texas law and courts. In Berrey v. Evolve Cellular, Inc., ...

Tyson Foods is facing a new class action lawsuit alleging that the company failed to properly consider religious accommodation requests and automatically placed employees with religious objections to its COVID-19 vaccine mandate on unpaid leave. Filed in federal court in ...

Mishandled workplace investigations can paralyze HR departments and leave companies on precariously thin legal ice. Without adherence to clear guidelines and best practices, probes meant to provide answers can instead raise more questions, undermine employment relationships and open organizations to ...

The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that third-party entities hired by employers to administer drug tests do not owe a common-law negligence duty to their clients’ employees. This decision follows a previous ruling that employers who conduct drug tests in-house ...

The recently released “Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence” contains provisions focused specifically on addressing rising concerns over AI’s impacts on the future of work. While stopping short of immediate policy actions, ...

A federal judge has ruled that a former office manager can move forward with his lawsuit alleging that the university he worked at unlawfully refused to rehire him in retaliation for his complaints of wage violations and age discrimination. The ...