New England Biz Law Update

An award of summary judgment in favor of a defendant employer charged with retaliatory transfer must be affirmed given a lack of evidence that the plaintiff employee’s pay, rank or duties changed after he was transferred. Ayala-Sepúlveda v. Municipality of ...

Tagged with: Feb. 29 2012 issue

A federal prison inmate could not seek damages for a violation of his constitutional rights from the employees of a private company that operated the facility. Minneci v. Pollard, No. 10-1104.  Jan. 10, 2012. Lawyers USA No. 993-3475.

Tagged with: Feb. 29 2012 issue

Must the appeal of a Merit Systems Protection Board decision that contains both disputed termination and unlawful discrimination claims be heard by the Federal Circuit, or do the federal district courts have jurisdiction? Kloeckner v. Solis, No. 11-184.Certiorari granted:  Jan. ...

Tagged with: Feb. 29 2012 issue

The First Amendment bars a disability discrimination suit brought by a teacher who was fired by a religious school. Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, No. 10-553.  Jan. 11, 2012. Lawyers USA No. 993-3481.

Tagged with: Feb. 29 2012 issue

A jury verdict for a plaintiff in a retaliation case must be affirmed, asseveral pieces of evidence that the plaintiff presented at trial “form a mosaic that is enough to support the jury’s finding of retaliation.” Serrano Muñoz v. Sociedad Española ...

Tagged with: Feb. 29 2012 issue

An award of summary judgment for a defendant employer on a plaintiff’s retaliation claim must be affirmed based on the plaintiff’s inability to show that she suffered an adverse employment action after complaining about age discrimination. Gómez-Pérez v. Potter (Lawyers ...

Tagged with: Feb. 29 2012 issue

Where a jury rendered a verdict in favor of the plaintiff in an age discrimination action brought pursuant to Massachusetts law, the verdict should be upheld, as the trial judge committed no error in (1) giving a mixed-motive jury instruction, (2) ...

Tagged with: Feb. 29 2012 issue

Where a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge found that the defendants did not violate the discharge injunction by refusing to foreclose or release its mortgage lien on the plaintiff debtors’ residence, the judge’s ruling was not inconsistent with Pratt v. General ...

Tagged with: Jan. 30 2012 issue

Where an assignee of a mortgage lender asserted an equitable interest in the home of the debtors, that claim was properly rejected based on the fact that a new mortgage instrument, executed in connection with a refinancing, listed as collateral ...

Tagged with: Jan. 30 2012 issue

Neither the Air Carrier Access Act nor Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act provides a private cause of action against air carriers for disability discrimination based on a plaintiff’s claim that Jet Blue Airways failed to provide her ...

Tagged with: Jan. 30 2012 issue