New England Biz Law Update

A U.S. District Court judgment dismissing a plaintiff’s disability discrimination complaint against the defendant Department of Veterans Affairs must be affirmed in light of the plaintiff’s failure to file a formal complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission within the ...

Tagged with: Jan. 30 2012 issue

Where (1) a defendant failed to close on a real estate purchase and sale agreement, (2) the seller retained his deposit, sold the property to a third party for a lower price and then assigned its claim for the price ...

Tagged with: Jan. 30 2012 issue

A defendant employer did not violate a collective bargaining agreement by reclassifying a plaintiff employee’s position as temporary after she accepted the job offer but before her first day on the job.

Tagged with: Jan. 30 2012 issue

Three plaintiffs, who served as sales managers for the defendant banquet facilities, were administrative employees and consequently exempt from the overtime wage provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Tagged with: Jan. 30 2012 issue

A city ordinance — requiring that, when there is a change in the identity of a hospitality employer, that employer must retain its predecessor’s employees (subject to some conditions) for a three-month period — is not preempted by the National ...

Tagged with: Jan. 30 2012 issue

A judgment upholding a plan administrator’s termination of long-term disability benefits must be vacated, as substantial evidence was lacking to support the administrator’s finding that the employee was not totally disabled despite covert surveillance video showing her driving, walking, jogging, ...

Tagged with: Jan. 30 2012 issue

The removal of a diversity case by an in-forum defendant, in contravention of the 28 U.S.C. §1441(b) prohibition against removal by an in-forum defendant, is not jurisdictional in nature but merely a procedural defect that may be waived.

Tagged with: Jan. 30 2012 issue

Where a debtor filed an adversary proceeding in which he asserted a right to rescind a loan agreement on the ground that the disclosures made at closing did not comply with the Massachusetts Consumer Credit Cost Disclosure Act (the commonwealth’s ...

Tagged with: Jan. 30 2012 issue

Where a defendant insurance company denied benefits under a group life insurance policy, that was unjustified, as the insured was totally disabled when he stopped working.