Massachusetts Employment Law Blog

Ridesharing company Uber is facing another court challenge. The owner of Celluride Wireless filed a lawsuit against the company for the alleged theft of his technology and ideas. According to the complaint, filed in the Superior Court of California, Kevin Halpern asserts that he first developed the concept of a peer-to-peer ridesharing service in 2002. …

Has your employer punished you for insisting upon your rights? A recent court ruling makes it harder for courts to dismiss employee claims of retaliation. The case arose from the employment of an African American woman at a resort hotel.  Shortly after her initial hire date, she alleges that she was called a “porch monkey”…

The salaries of top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are under attack with the introduction of a new Congressional bill. Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., is sponsoring legislation that would potentially cap executive salaries within these two companies, making them comparable to the salaries of officials within the government’s executive branch. This move is…

The whistleblower in a hedge fund advisor case recently received a $600,000 award from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  The case involved allegations that the hedge fund owner made improper transactions with an affiliated broker dealer that she owned, without disclosing the affiliation to her client. The company’s head trader reported the actions…

Disputes between Boston area taxicab drivers and medallion owners came to a head as the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a ruling in Sebago v. Boston Cab Dispatch. At the heart of the debate is the classification of these drivers as independent contractors, instead of employees. The Massachusetts Independent Contractor Statute Under the Massachusetts Independent Contractor…

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) includes a provision that prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who file complaints against the employer with a government agency. For years, court across the country, including the Federal Appeals Courts remained split about whether this protection extended to employees who made complaints to their private employer, as it…

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is taking a stance to protect transgender workers from employment discrimination.  Though there is currently no federal statute expressly prohibiting this type of discrimination, the EEOC has chosen to pursue these matters under the sex discrimination clause of Title VII. One recently decided case involved a transgender employee working for a…

The National Committee on Pay Equality named Tuesday, April 14, 2015 Equal Pay Day in an effort to call attention to the inequitable pay gaps that still exist between female and male workers. Each year the organization selects a day to commemorate individuals who are making strides towards pay equality and influence business owners to examine…

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently handed New York’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) a huge blow, when it issued a determination against the agency totaling more than $246 million. Details of the Case On behalf of a group of African American and Hispanic Administrative Managers, the Communications Workers of America filed a charge…

When most people hear the word internship, they think of an unpaid employment opportunity that offers a chance to learn the ropes of a job. In recent court cases, that general perception has been challenged as interns ban together and fight for various types of compensation. One such case involved the media group Gawker. What…