Go To Lawyers: Marylou V. Fabbo

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A partner with Skoler, Abbot & Presser in Springfield since 2001, Marylou V. Fabbo has nearly 30 years of experience in employment law.

Fabbo has represented many of the firm’s most valued clients in state and federal courts, as well as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities and other forums.

For several years, Fabbo taught employment law as an adjunct professor at Western New England University School of Law.

Fabbo has also been involved in several important decisions that have helped shape employment law in Massachusetts and has also obtained numerous defense verdicts for management-side clients in jury trials.

Her noteworthy engagements include obtaining summary judgment in federal district court for Rocky’s Ace Hardware on the grounds that the plaintiff’s claims of discrimination and FMLA violations were time-barred. In that case, the court emphasized the necessity for the nonmoving party to provide specific facts showing a genuine issue for trial and disregarded conclusory allegations and unsupported speculation.

Meanwhile, in Henry v. United Bank, Fabbo convinced the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that a trial judge properly awarded summary judgment for the employer on an employee’s FMLA retaliation and state-law discrimination claims due to a lack of evidence showing pretext.

Additionally, the court found that the employee’s request for open-ended additional leave was not a reasonable accommodation under state law.

Similarly, Fabbo successfully defended a health system’s termination of a nurse for violation of a hospital confidentiality policy. The plaintiff had been fired for discussing a patient’s condition with the patient’s family members in a public area.

Achievements and Professional Activities

Former co-chair, Springfield CLE Committee, Massachusetts Bar Association; member, Wilbraham Personnel Advisory Board; adjunct faculty, Western New England University School of Law; member, board of directors, FutureWorks; chair, Wilbraham Commission on Disabilities; personnel board chair, Town of Ludlow (2003-2004); board member, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampden County (2000-2002); corporator, Randall’s Community Center, Ludlow Boys & Girls Club