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Employment – Personal time – Wage Act
Where a Massachusetts Wage Act action, brought by two plaintiffs claiming to be owed payment for personal days they each accrued in their final year of employment, was removed from Superior Court by the defendant employer on the basis of the preemptive effect of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. §185(a), the plaintiffs’ remand request should be granted because whether personal time [...]
Writers Guild sues to block Paramount deal, saying it would hurt writers
The Writers Guild of America sued to block Paramount's $110 billion Warner Bros Discovery deal, citing harm to writers' wages and employment opportunities.
Judge Rya Zobel more than just a trailblazer, members of bar say
Rya W. Zobel, Massachusetts' first female federal judge, is remembered for her fairness, landmark rulings, mentorship and lasting impact on the law.
The Most Important Opinions, January – June 2026
This special feature contains summaries of hundreds of the most notable opinions that were published in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly in the first half of 2026.
Employment – Accommodation – Deafness
Where a jury found the defendant, a medical transportation services company, liable to a plaintiff job applicant under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the trial judge’s decision to grant the defendant judgment as a matter of law should be affirmed because no reasonable jury could conclude that there was a reasonable accommodation that would have allowed the plaintiff to perform the essentia[...]
Employment – Retaliation – First Amendment
Where a First Amendment retaliation suit has been filed by plaintiff employees of the Massachusetts Department of Correction who were disciplined for releasing to the media a video of a violent attack by three inmates, a motion to dismiss the complaint should be denied because the plaintiffs have pleaded facts sufficient to survive the balancing test established in Pickering v. Bd. of Educ., 391 U[...]
Retirement – Purchase of service – Substantial similarity
Where a petitioner who worked as a re-entry assistant II with the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department sought to purchase contract service for time that she worked as an adult basic education teacher for the same employer, a decision by the State Board of Retirement to deny that request should be affirmed because the petitioner has not sustained her burden of showing that the two positions are su[...]
Employment – Tortious interference – Competitor
Where an employee of the plaintiff, an insurance brokerage and consulting firm, left to work for a defendant competitor, a motion by the defendant to dismiss a claim of tortious interference should be “allowed because the plaintiff has not plausibly alleged improper motive or means.
Labor – Prevailing wages – Special act
Where a special act concerning the Springfield water and sewer commission's wastewater treatment facility, sewers, and pump stations expressly provides that work falling within “construction and design of improvements” is governed by the Prevailing Wage Act, the phrase “construction and design of improvements” in the special act does not encompass ordinary repairs, routine inspections, day[...]
Apple sues OpenAI, two former employees for trade secrets theft
Apple sued OpenAI and two former employees in California for misappropriating trade secrets to aid OpenAI's consumer hardware efforts.
SJC restricts prevailing wages for Springfield sewer work
The Supreme Judicial Court has decided that the prevailing wage provision of a special legislative act concerning Springfield’s wastewater treatment facility, sewers, and pump stations does not encompass ordinary repairs, routine inspections, day-to-day operations, and maintenance or ordinary replacements.
Lawyers continue to grapple with AI ethical issues
Lawyers continue to navigate ethical issues around generative AI use, guided by existing ABA Model Rules and evolving state regulations.
