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Employment – ERISA preemption
Where a plaintiff investment banker has alleged that the defendants failed to fulfill the promises they made to her when they convinced her to leave her job to come work for them, the plaintiff’s state-law claims are preempted to the extent that they relate to an ERISA-governed special deferred grant award.
Employment – Chapter 151B – Employer status
Where a hearing commissioner found that a respondent discriminated against a complainant on the basis of sex and pregnancy in violation of G.L.c. 151B, that finding should be upheld despite the respondent’s claim that it did not have enough employees to be subject to Chapter 151B.
Employment – Vaccination – Hardship
Where a plaintiff employed by the state Department of Developmental Services alleged religious discrimination after she was denied a religious exemption from the commonwealth's COVID-19 vaccine requirement, the employer is entitled to summary judgment because no reasonable jury could conclude that the plaintiff's request for an exemption from the vaccination policy could have been accommodated wit[...]
Arbitration – Employment agreement
Where a defendant has moved to compel arbitration, that motion should be allowed despite the plaintiff’s argument that he does not remember signing an arbitration agreement, that he was not given reasonable notice of its terms, and that it lacks consideration.
Employment – Contract – Statute of Frauds
Where a defendant employer has moved for summary judgment on a plaintiff’s claims for retaliation, breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and unjust enrichment, numerous material disputes of fact preclude entry of summary judgment, so the motion must be denied.
Employment – Vaccination – Hardship
Where an employer denied a registered nurse’s request for a religious exemption under its policy mandating that all employees and volunteers be vaccinated against COVID-19, a grant of summary judgment in favor of the employer should be affirmed because granting the nurse's requested exemption would impose an undue hardship.
Employment – Exhaustion requirement – MCAD
Where a plaintiff has brought an action alleging discrimination under Title VII, the complaint must be dismissed because the plaintiff failed to file a claim with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination within the 300-day statute of limitations period.
Employment – Whistleblower – EMT
Where a plaintiff was terminated as an emergency medical technician (EMT) after he photographed an injured patient and used that photograph to report alleged medical misconduct by the defendant employer to the Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS), it was error to dismiss the plaintiff’s whistleblower claim, as a state statute — G.L.c. 149, §187(b) — prohibits retaliation by an ambula[...]
Employment – Vaccination – Undue hardship
Where a plaintiff who worked as a staff nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit of a defendant hospital lost her job for refusing on religious grounds to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the hospital’s motion for summary judgment should be granted because accommodating the plaintiff’s vaccine exemption request would have imposed an undue hardship on the hospital.
Employment – ADA – False imprisonment
Where a plaintiff has brought suit based on events arising from her time as a pathology resident, the complaint must be dismissed except for a false imprisonment count and two counts under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Surreptitious recording in workplace admissible
The state’s wiretap statute does not bar an employer from using an allegedly illegally obtained recording in a civil proceeding, a Superior Court judge has found.
Employment – Retaliation – Arbitration
Where a plaintiff who remained suspended after a 2021 arbitration decision ordered him reinstated later obtained a jury verdict in his favor on his claims of First Amendment retaliation and tortious interference with an advantageous relationship, the defendants’ motion for judgment as a matter of law, or in the alternative for a new trial, should be denied despite their objection to a court orde[...]
Verdicts & Settlements
- Injury during baby’s adenoidectomy leads to stroke
- Construction worker’s hand caught in cement mixer
- Worker trapped in freezer, dies during steam cleaning
- Pedestrian, 69, hit by motor vehicle while in crosswalk
- Four-vehicle pileup leaves driver with spinal cord injury
- Nursing home staff blamed for kidney-failure death
- Pharmacy’s late delivery blamed for patient’s death
- Man, 25, drowns after swimming lesson at fitness club
Opinion Digests
- Jurisdiction – Forum selection clause – Non-signatory
- Criminal – Responsibility
- Attorneys – Lien
- Landlord and tenant – Default judgment
- Zoning – Constructive grant – Comprehensive permit
- Fraud – False Claims Act – Settlement share
- Civil practice – Discovery – Cybersecurity
