New England Biz Law Update
An employee who applied for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits claiming to be unable to work because of a disabling condition could not hold her former employer liable for failing to reasonably accommodate her disabilities, a U.S. magistrate judge has ...
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Fired UMass security officers can pursue civil rights claims
Two security officers at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell could sue for violations of their First Amendment rights based on claims they were fired for speaking out publicly against unfair hiring practices and sexual harassment, a Superior Court judge in Massachusetts ...
Read More »Board members, investors avoid liability for executive’s pay
Two former board members and investors in a biotechnology startup had no personal liability under the state Wage Act for compensation due the limited liability company’s former president, the Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts has decided. The plaintiff president argued ...
Read More »Severance terms extinguished exec’s right to shares, options
The terms of a software company executive’s severance agreement completely extinguished rights to preferred shares and stock options granted during the periods of his employment, the Massachusetts Appeals Court has found. The plaintiff argued that a general release of claims ...
Read More »Revisiting Title IX process could benefit all, lawyers say
While no one wants to return to the days when colleges too often swept sexual assault allegations under the rug, local attorneys are cautiously optimistic that a new process recently announced by the U.S. secretary of education will culminate in ...
Tagged with: Betsy DeVos college campus sexual assault Harvard University secretary of education sexual assault Title IX
Read More »Jury must determine FMLA notice issue
A U.S. District Court judge in Rhode Island has found that a company that terminated an employee for excessive absenteeism could not be awarded summary judgment, as the employee raised a jury question regarding whether he gave notice sufficient to ...
Tagged with: Family and Medical Leave Act FMLA John J. McConnell Jr. John McConnell Judge McConnell Rhode Island US District Court USDC
Read More »Outside firms see Boston as market of opportunity
A recent wave of entrants to the Boston legal market underscores that outside firms large and small are finding the client-rich environment irresistible and are undaunted by the challenge of competing with the city’s established firms. North Carolina-based business firm ...
Read More »Insurance co.’s duty to defend doesn’t include counterclaim
An employment practices liability policy that specified a duty to “defend any claim” did not require the insurance carrier to bear the cost of a compulsory counterclaim against a former employee who sued the insured for wrongful termination, the Massachusetts ...
Tagged with: employment Employment policies Justice Gants massachusetts Mount Vernon Ralph D. Gants Ralph Gants SJC Supreme Judicial Court Visionaid Visionaid and Mount Vernon
Read More »Board denied benefit of business judgment rule
The business judgment rule did not shield a company board’s vote not to pursue a derivative suit demanded by a shareholder as there was evidence that the vote was not taken in good faith, a judge in the Business Litigation ...
Tagged with: business litigation Judge Kaplan Mitchell H. Kaplan Mitchell Kaplan
Read More »Wage Act plaintiff barred from pursuing retaliation claim
A building manager’s complaints about her salary and extended work hours were insufficient to place her employer on notice that she was asserting a right to overtime for purposes of triggering the protections of the Massachusetts Wage Act’s retaliation provision, ...
Tagged with: Judge Kaplan Massachusetts Wage Act Mitchell H. Kaplan Mitchell Kaplan superior court Wage Act
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