New England Biz Law Update

An employer was justified in subtracting an executive’s $5 million lump-sum severance payment from his wages for purposes of calculating his retirement benefits, a U.S. District Court judge has ruled.

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

A law firm representing the plaintiffs in a patent infringement suit was not subject to disqualification based on the fact that two of its partners, while associated with a different firm in 2004, had a one-day meeting with the defendant ...

Tagged with: May 31 2012 issue

The last oral argument of the U.S. Supreme Court’s term was an explosive one, as the justices considered whether SB 1070, the controversial Arizona immigration statute, is preempted by federal law.

Tagged with: May 31 2012 issue

An investor who lost $7 million investing in a hedge fund could not sue the fund’s operator under the Uniform Securities Act for failing to disclose in the fund’s prospectus that he had been previously involved in a residential landlord-tenant ...

Tagged with: May 31 2012 issue

A fired employee cannot sue for severance pay under the Massachusetts Wage Act, a Superior Court judge has ruled.

Tagged with: May 31 2012 issue

The fallout from the firing of Henry C. Suominen Jr. has stretched across eight years, producing a lawsuit, a jury trial, an appeal and a second jury trial.

Tagged with: May 31 2012 issue

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued updated guidance on employers’ use of criminal background checks in making employment decisions. According to EEOC officials, the new guidance, the first since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which ...

Tagged with: May 31 2012 issue

New rules simplifying and speeding up the process for union organizing elections went into effect on April 30. The rules establish pre-election hearings to determine whether there is a “question of representation” to be resolved by an election, rather than ...

Tagged with: May 31 2012 issue

The Department of Labor has launched an effort to increase enforcement actions by its Employee Benefits Security Administration, the agency in charge of administering and enforcing ERISA regulations. The agency saw a record number of enforcement actions in 2011. It ...

Tagged with: May 31 2012 issue

The recent ruling from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission holding that transgendered workers can bring bias claims under Title VII is a “game changer” in employment discrimination law and could lead to claims under the act based on sexual orientation.

Tagged with: May 31 2012 issue