The Legal Line^®

After numerous legislative false starts over the past decade, Massachusetts has finally enacted legislation defining the boundaries of enforceable noncompetition agreements in the employment context. The new law takes effect on October 1, 2018 and is codified at M.G.L. c. 149, § 24L. While it sets several clear and understandable limitations on such agreements, it … Read more

In Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. et al., v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the United States Supreme Court recently ruled 7-2 in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple because he claimed it would violate his religious beliefs against gay marriage. Importantly, the Court’s ruling did NOT decide … Read more

After several months of deliberation, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision authored by Justice Gorsuch that employment agreements can lawfully include provisions that require employees to arbitrate claims on an individual basis rather than through a class or collective actions. This is a significant victory for employers who may be the targets of … Read more

In Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, the Sixth Circuit recently held that a transgender individual has a cognizable claim of gender identity discrimination under Title VII, and furthermore that the employer’s religious objections to transgender individuals working at his business did not override the employee’s rights to be free … Read more

The Massachusetts Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (the “Act”) goes into effect on April 1, 2018. The Act amends M.G.L. ch. 151B, §4 Massachusetts anti-discrimination statute to expressly prohibit discrimination on the basis of pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions. According to the Act, employers are generally prohibited from treating employers or job applicants less favorably than others … Read more

This week, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) declined to review several employment cases petitioned to the Court. One of those cases, EEOC v. Consol Energy, Inc., 860 F.3d 131 (4th Cir. 2017), sought review of a religious accommodation case where the employer refused to accommodate an employee who objected to using a … Read more

This week, in a case called Zarda v. Altitude Express, the Second Circuit held 10-3 that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is prohibited under Title VII. The Case In this case, the plaintiff, a gay man who worked as a sky driving instructor at Altitude Express, was fired by his employer after he … Read more

At the end of 2017, as part of its effort to end certain Obama-era rules, the new Republican majority National Labor Relations Board overturned the joint employer standard established under Obama. According to the NLRB’s decision in Hy-Brand Indus. Contractors, Ltd. and Brandt Construction Co., in order to find a “joint employer relationship,” two entities … Read more

In the final weeks of 2017, the National Labor Board Relations Board, packed with Trump appointees, put an end to two important Obama-era labor rules. Joint Employer Test Clarified for Businesses In Hy-Brand Indus. Contractors, Ltd. and Brandt Construction Co., the now Republican-majority NLRB overturned the joint employer standard established under Obama, and returned to … Read more

Guess what? Just when you think you know somebody at work, you might learn something monstrous about them. Denial is not the answer. O’Reilly, Weinstein, Spacey, Rose, Lauer – over the past couple of months the news has been filled with stories of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. While these cases have arisen … Read more