New England Biz Law Update

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by two women against their former employers, concluding at the summary judgment stage that the evidence was insufficient to allow their gender, age and disability discrimination claims to move forward. U.S. ...

A U.S. District Court judge in Rhode Island has found that a sales professional could bring a misrepresentation claim against her former employer for allegedly allowing her to believe certain transactions she closed would count toward incentive bonuses that it ...

A federal judge has found that a local union acted in good faith and therefore did not breach its duty of fair representation in not pursuing arbitration on behalf of a plaintiff member who was terminated from his job for ...

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 ...