New England Biz Law Update

An employer did not discriminate against an employee by firing her for misconduct she attributed to post-traumatic stress disorder, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. Plaintiff Kirstie Trahan allegedly referred to certain co-workers as “bitches” on more ...

Despite never crossing state lines while discharging their duties, “last mile” delivery drivers are sufficiently engaged in interstate commerce to qualify for the Federal Arbitration Act’s exemption for “transportation workers,” the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held. The ...

A U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting forum-shopping in mass tort actions does not apply to divest a court of jurisdiction over non-resident plaintiffs in a class action alleging a multistate employer violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by refusing to ...

A tax consultant should not have been found liable for misappropriating trade secrets after he used his ex-employer’s allegedly proprietary “tax arbitrage” strategy in providing services to its former clients, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The ...

Finding an exception to the “going-and-coming” rule enunciated by the Rhode Island Supreme Court in Branco v. Leviton Manufacturing Company, Inc. to be inapplicable, the state Workers’ Compensation Court Appellate Division vacated a trial judge’s award of benefits to a ...

“Brand representatives” who demonstrated products and provided free samples at retail stores were exempt from overtime requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a U.S. District Court judge in Massachusetts has decided. Defendant Summit Retail Solutions sent the plaintiff employees ...

Attorneys in Rhode Island say that while increased litigation appears to be imminent, insureds could face a difficult time in recouping pandemic-related losses through the business interruption provisions of their commercial insurance policies. “I see the potential for an explosion ...

An insurance carrier did not abuse its discretion by attributing the death of an ERISA plan participant in a car crash to a pre-existing condition and denying his widow’s claim for accidental death benefits, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of ...

Employment lawyers don’t know precisely what shape the wave of litigation triggered by employer responses to the COVID-19 pandemic will take, but few doubt that that wave is coming. In the “rush” to implement furloughs and layoffs, many employers simply ...

A Delaware choice-of-law provision was properly applied in enforcing a non-solicitation agreement against a former sales employee who went to work for a competitor, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has determined. Defendant Timothy Day and his onetime employer, ...