New England Biz Law Update

A jewelry manufacturer could sue the operator of a retail store chain over unauthorized sales of merchandise, a U.S. District Court judge in Rhode Island has ruled. The defendant retailer argued that, in obtaining the merchandise from a number of ...

A business development director who lost her job three months after disclosing her pregnancy could not pursue a Title VII discrimination claim against her employer, which asserted the position had become obsolete due to changing market conditions, a U.S. District ...

A flurry of patent and other intellectual property decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court is keeping one of New England’s most vibrant practice areas on its toes. “It’s terrific,” said Brian T. Moriarty of Hamilton, Smith, Brook & Reynolds in ...

When in doubt, employers should proceed with caution and consult with their lawyers if they want to avoid being slapped with a suit for violating Rhode Island’s tough new social media privacy law. That’s the advice of employment and social ...

A co-owner of a health club chain who was accused of freezing out the widow of his deceased partner and, in concert with an outside acquaintance, diverting corporate assets and proprietary information to open competing clubs violated his fiduciary duty ...

A U.S. District Court judge has found that an often-cited 2012 Supreme Judicial Court decision does not in fact require employers, as a matter of law, to expressly include the phrase “Massachusetts Wage Act” in a release. The plaintiff employee ...

A life insurance company’s disbursement of death benefits under certain employee-benefit plans via the use of “retained asset accounts,” or RAAs, did not violate its duty of loyalty under ERISA, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The ...

Intellectual property attorneys who challenge decisions before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board say a recent Federal Circuit ruling means they no longer can be barred from introducing new evidence in appeals at the U.S. District Court. Until the Federal ...

Two years after a guidance warning employers against the overly broad use of criminal background checks to screen potential new hires was issued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it is drawing renewed criticism from employers, business groups and ...

Lawyers in New England say a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that struck down President Obama’s 2012 recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board threatens to invalidate hundreds of rulings made over an 18-month period. But the ...